SELECT   DOCUMENTS 

ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE 

HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 
1776-1861 


SELECT   DOCUMENTS 


ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE 


I 
HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


.  1776-  i  86  i 


EDITED    WITH  NOTES 
BY 

WILLIAM    MACDONALD 

PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY   IN   BROWN   UNIVERSITY 


gork 
THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO,  LTD. 
1905 

All  rights  reserved 


•COPYRIGHT,  1897, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  December,  1897.     Reprinted  October, 
1898;  April,  1901;  July,  1903;  September,  1905. 


ISTorfoooto  ^ress 

J.  S.  Cushing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood  Mass.  U.S.A. 


Preface 

IT  is  my  practice,  in  teaching  American  history,  to  require  each 
member  of  the  class  to  read  critically  a  considerable  number  of 
important  documents.  While  such  acquaintance  with  the  sources 
is  now  rightly  insisted  upon  as  the  basis  of  all  sound  historical 
knowledge,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  the  documents  desired,  and 
the  impracticability  of  making  effective  use,  with  large  classes,  of 
a  text  only  one  or  two  copies  of  which  are  available,  is  often  con 
siderable  ;  and  I  have  thought  that  others  besides  myself  might  be 
glad  to  have,  in  a  single  volume  of  moderate  compass,  an  accu 
rately  printed  collection  of  such  documents  as  any  one  pretending 
even  to  an  elementary  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  the  United 
States"  may  fairly  be  expected  to  know. 

The  present  volume  covers  the  period  from  1776  to  1861  — 
from  the  adoption  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  to  the  eve 
of  the  Civil  War.  None  of  the  documents  given  are  "  new  "  or 
"  rare,"  but  many  of  them  have  not  hitherto  been  very  accessible, 
save  to  students  fortunate  enough  to  have  at  hand  large  libraries. 
I  have  aimed  to  include  the  important  documents  which  a  sys 
tematic  course  of  instruction,  making  some  pretension  to  thorough 
ness,  would  be  likely  to  dwell  upon,  while  excluding  everything  an 
acquaintance  with  which  could  be  demanded  only  of  those  stu 
dents  devoting  especial  attention  to  the  subject.  Selection  is,  after 
all,  largely  a  matter  of  individual  judgment,  and  I  cannot  antici 
pate  that  my  judgment  as  to  what  is  of  primary  importance  will 
entirely  satisfy  every  one  who  may  find  the  book  helpful ;  I  hope, 
however,  that  no  document  has  been  included  which  a  serious 
student  of  the  period  can  afford  to  neglect. 

Certain  classes  of  documents,  such  as  tariff  acts,  acts  relating  to 
the  organization  of  the  various  departments  of  government,  and 
platforms  of  political  parties,  have  been  omitted  altogether,  as 
have  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  except  the  Dred  Scott  case, 
and  speeches  in  Congress,  except  the  Webster-Hayne  debate. 
Some  of  these  texts  are  not  difficult  to  obtain ;  others  do  not 
admit  of  use  in  a  work  of  this  character ;  while  the  necessity  of 
keeping  the  volume  within  reasonable  bounds  will,  I  think,  make 
the  propriety  of  many  omissions  sufficiently  evident.  Of  the 

V 

283996 


vi  PREFACE 

documents  given,  a  large  number  are  in  the  form  of  significant 
extracts  only,  irrelevant  matter  and  legal  verbiage  being  pruned 
away  wherever  possible.  A  few  pieces  of  great  length  have  been 
condensed.  In  all  cases,  however,  omissions  and  alterations  are 
indicated  by  the  usual  signs.  Especial  pains  have  been  taken  to 
reproduce  the  text  of  each  document  with  scrupulous  fidelity. 

To  each  document  has  been  prefixed  a  brief  introduction  and 
select  bibliography.  The  introduction  is  limited  to  the  circum 
stances  of  the  document  itself;  and  I  have  thought  it  worth  whiie 
to  trace  somewhat  in  detail  the  legislative  or  diplomatic  history  of 
the  various  selections.  As  the  volume  is  designed  for  use  either 
in  connection  with  a  narrative  text-book,  or  as  a  manual  to  accom 
pany  lectures,  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  make  the  introduc 
tions,  taken  together,  form  a  connected  story.  The  bibliographies 
deal  almost  exclusively  with  collateral  documentary  material,  and 
the  most  important  general  discussions,  and  point  the  way  to 
fields  in  which  further  study  of  the  sources  may  be  pursued. 
Official  publications  relating  to  American  history  during  the  con 
stitutional  period  are  often  supposed  to  be  a  labyrinth,  even  for 
the  initiated ;  and  I  shall  be  glad  if  the  general  bibliographical 
note  renders  the  use  of  such  matter  less  difficult,  especially  for 
beginners. 

I  am  under  obligations  to  Professor  N.  S.  Shaler  for  permission  to 
use  the  text  of  the  Kentucky  resolutions  of  1798  contained  in  his 
history  of  Kentucky,  and  to  the  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company  for  a 
like  permission  to  reprint,  from  their  edition  of  Madison's  writings, 
the  Virginia  resolutions  of  1798.  For  welcome  advice,  and  assist 
ance  of  various  kinds,  I  am  indebted  to  Professor  Albert  Bushnell 
Hart,  of  Harvard  University ;  Mr.  Wendell  P.  Garrison,  editor  of 
the  Nation ;  Major  George  W.  Davis,  U.S.A.,  of  the  War  Records 
Office  at  Washington  ;  and  my  colleague,  Professor  Henry  Crosby 
Emery ;  while  to  Mr.  George  T.  Little,  of  the  Bowdoin  College 
Library,  I  owe  generous  privileges  in  the  use  of  books.  Lastly,  I 
should  not  fail  to  acknowledge  my  obligation  to  many  students, 
members  of  my  classes  in  Bowdoin  College,  without  whose  aid  the 
collection  of  the  data  embodied  in  the  present  volume  would  have 
been  much  more  laborious  than  it  has  been. 

WILLIAM    MACDONALD. 

BRUNSWICK,  MAINE, 
December,  1897. 


Contents 


NUMBER  PAGE 

1.  Declaration  of  Independence.     July  4,  1776 I 

2.  Articles  of  Confederation.     Nov.  15,  1777 6 

3.  Treaty  of  Paris.     Sept.  3,  1783 15 

4.  Ordinance  of  1787.     July  13,  1787 21 

5.  Constitution  of  the  United  States.     Sept.  17,  1787         ...  29 

6.  Hamilton's  First  Report  on  Public  Credit.     Jan.  9,  1790         .         .  46 

7.  Report  on  Slavery  Memorials.     March  23,  1790    ....  58 

8.  Hamilton's  Second  Report  on  Public  Credit.     Dec.  13,  1790  .         .  61 

9.  Hamilton's  Report  on  a  National  Bank.     Dec.  13,  1790          .         .  67 

10.  Jefferson's  Opinion  on  the  Constitutionality  of  a  National   Bank. 

Feb.  15,  1791 76 

11.  Hamilton's  Opinion  on  the  Constitutionality  of  a  National   Bank. 

Feb.  23,  1791  .      ' 81 

12.  Hamilton's  Report  on  Manufactures.     Dec.  5,  1791         ...  98 

13.  Proclamation  of  Neutrality.     April  22,  1793 1 12 

14.  Treaty  with  Great  Britain.     Nov.  19,  1794     .         .         .         .         .114 

15.  Washington's    Message    on    the    Insurrection    in    Pennsylvania. 

Nov.  19,  1794 130 

16.  Adams's  Message  on  the  Negotiations  with  France.      March  19, 

1798 135 

Alien  and  Sedition  Acts.     1798 137 

17.  Naturalization  Act.     June   1 8,  1798 138 

1 8.  Alien  Act.     June  25,  1798 141 

19.  Alien  Enemies  Act.     July  6,  1798 144 

20.  Sedition  Act.     July  14,  1798 146 

Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions.     1798,  1799    ....  148 

21.  Kentucky  Resolutions.     Nov.  16,  1798 149 

22.  Virginia  Resolutions.     Dec.  24,  1798       ......  155 

23.  Kentucky  Resolutions.     Nov.  22,  1799 158 

24.  Treaty  with  France  for  the  Cession  of  Louisiana.    April  30,  1803  160 

25.  Jefferson's  Message  regarding  the  Burr  Conspiracy.     Jan.  22,  1807  165 

26.  Act  to  prohibit  the  Importation  of  Slaves.     March  2,  1807  .         .  171 

27.  Embargo  Act.     Dec.  22,  1807 176 

28.  Non-Intercourse  Act.     March  I,  1809 177 

29.  Madison's  War  Message.     June  i,  1812 183 

30.  Declaration  of  War.     June  18,  1812 191 


viii  CONTENTS 

NUMBER  PAGE 

31.  Treaty  of  Ghent.     Dec.  24,  1814 192 

32.  Report  of  the  Hartford  Convention.     Jan.  4,  1815        .         .         .  198 

33.  Act  for  a  National  Bank.     April  10,  1816 207 

34.  Treaty  with  Spain  for  the  Floridas.     Feb.  22,  1819      .         .         .  213 
Missouri  Compromise.     1820-21 219 

35.  Tallmadge's  Amendment.     Feb.  13,  1819 221 

36.  Taylor's  Amendment.     Jan.  26,  1820 222 

37.  Thomas's  Amendment.     Feb.  17,  1820 222 

38.  Report  of  the  Conference  Committee.     March  2,  1820          .         .  223 

39.  Missouri  Enabling  Act.     March  6,  1820 223 

40.  Constitution  of  Missouri.     July  19,  1820 225 

41.  Resolution  for  the  Admission  of  Missouri.      March  2,  1821  .         .  226 

42.  Tenure  of  Office  Act.     May  15,  1820     ......  226 

43.  Monroe's  Message  enunciating  the  Monroe  Doctrine.    Dec.  2,  1823  228 

44.  Protest  of  South  Carolina  against  the  Tariff  of  1828.    Dec.  19,  1828  231 

45.  Protest  of  Georgia  against  the  Tariff  of  1828.     Dec.  20,  1828      .  234 

46.  The  Bank  Controversy:  Jackson's  First  Annual  Message.    Dec.  8, 

1829 238 

Debate  on  Foot's  Resolution.     1830      ......  239 

47.  Webster's  Reply  to  Hayne.     Jan.  26  and  27,  1830         .         .         .  240 

48.  Hayne's  Reply  to  Webster.     Jan.  27,  1830 250 

49.  Webster's  Concluding  Remarks.     Jan.  27,  1830      .         .         .         .  255 

50.  The    Bank    Controversy:     Jackson's    Second    Annual    Message. 

Dec.  7,  1830 259 

51.  The  Bank  Controversy :  Jackson's  Third  Annual  Message.   Dec.  6, 

1831 260 

52.  Jackson's  Bank  Veto.     July  10,  1832     .         .         .         .         .         .261 

53.  South  Carolina  Ordinance  of  Nullification.     Nov.  24,  1832    .         .  268 

54.  T^e    Bank    Controversy:    Jackson's     Fourth     Annual    Message. 

Dec.  4,  1832 271 

55.  Jackson's  Proclamation  to  the  People  of  South  Carolina.     Dec.  10, 

1832 .  273 

56.  Act  for  Enforcing  the  Tariff.     March  2,  1833       ....  284 
Removal  of  the  Deposits.     September,  1833          ....  289 

57.  Jackson's  Paper  read  to  the  Cabinet.     Sept.  18,  1833  .         .         .  290 

58.  Taney's  Instructions  to  the  Collector  at  Philadelphia.    Sept.  26,  1833  295 

59.  Taney  to  the  Girard  Bank.     Sept.  26,  1833 297 

60.  Taney  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.     Sept.  26,  1833    .         .  298 

61.  Contract  between  the  Girard  Bank  and  the  United  States.    Sept.  28, 

1833 298 

62.  The  Bank  Controversy :  Jackson's  Fifth  Annual  Message.    Dec.  3, 

1833        •                                    300 


CONTENTS  ix 


63.  Constitution  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society.     Dec.  4,  1833  304 

64.  Jackson's    Protest    against    the    Senate    Resolution    of    Censure. 

April  15,  1834 306 

65.  The  Bank  Controversy :  Jackson's  Sixth  Annual  Message.    Dec.  2, 

1834 317 

66.  Act  to  Regulate  the  Deposits.     June  23,  1836       ....  323 

67.  Specie  Circular.     July  n,  1836 327 

68.  Benton's  Expunging  Resolution.     Jan.  16,  1837     ....  329 

69.  Giddings's  Resolutions  on  Slavery.     March  21,  1842     .         .         .  333 

70.  Treaty  with  Great  Britain.     Aug.  9,  1842 335 

71.  Joint  Resolution  for  the  Annexation  of  Texas.     March  I,  1845        •  343 

72.  Folk's  War  Message.     May  n,  1846 346 

73.  Act  for  the  Prosecution  of  the  Mexican  War.     May  13,  1846      .  354 

74.  Treaty  with  Great  Britain.     June  15,  1846 355 

75.*    Independent  Treasury  Act.     Aug.  6,  1846 358 

76.  Treaty  with  Mexico.     Feb.  2,  1848 365 

77.  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty.     April  19,  1850 373 

Compromise  of  1850 378 

78.  Clay's  Resolutions.     Jan.  29,  1850 379 

79.  Extract  from  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Thirteen.    May  8,  1850  381 

80.  Extract  from  the  Utah  Act.     Sept.  9,  1850 382 

81.  Extract  from  the  Texas  and  New  Mexico  Act.     Sept.  9,  1850      .  383 

82.  Fugitive  Slave  Act.     Sept.  1 8,  1850        .         .       .  .         .         .         .385 

83.  Act   abolishing    the    Slave   Trade    in   the    District    of  Columbia. 

Sept.  20,  1850 389 

84.  Treaty  with  Mexico.     Dec.  30,  1853 390 

Kansas-Nebraska  Act.     1854 395 

85.  Douglas's  Report.     Jan.  4,  1854 397 

86.  Dixon's  Proposed  Amendment.     Jan.  16,  1854       .         .         .  402 

87.  Sumner's  Proposed  Amendment.     Jan.  17,  1854     ....  402 

88.  Extract  from   the   Act   to   Organize    the  Territories  of  Nebraska 

and  Kansas.     May  30,  1854 403 

89.  Ostend  Manifesto.     Oct.  1 8,  1854 405 

90.  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Troubles  in  Kansas.     July  I,  1856  413 

91.  Dred  Scott  Decision.     March  6,  1857 416 

92.  Lecompton  Constitution.     Nov.  7,  1857          .....  435 

93.  Crittenden  Compromise.     Dec.  18,  1860 438 

94.  South  Carolina  Ordinance  of  Secession.     Dec.  20,  1860        .         .  441 

95.  Peace  Congress:  Proposed  Constitutional  Amendment.  Feb.  27, 1861  443 

96.  Proposed  Constitutional  Amendment.     March  2,  1 86 1    .         .         .  445 

97.  Constitution   of  the  Confederate    States  of  America.     March  II, 

1861 446 


Bibliographical   Note 

OFFICIAL  documentary  material  for  the  study  of  the  period  covered  by  this 
volume  must  be  sought  in  a  variety  of  publications,  the  most  important  of 
which  are  indicated  below.  Elaborate  bibliographies  will  be  found  in  Winsor's 
Narrative  and  Critical  History,  especially  vols.  VI.  and  VII.,  and  Channing 
and  Hart's  Guide  to  the  Study  of  American  History. 

For  the  period  from  1774  to  1788  we  have  the  Journals  of  Congress, 
13  vols.,  published  contemporaneously  at  Philadelphia,  and  reprinted  in  1800- 
1801.  The  Secret  Journals,  4  vols.,  for  the  same  period,  form  a  separate 
series. 

Of  collections  of  documents  for  the  period  prior  to  1789,  the  most  important 
is  Force's  American  Archives,  of  which,  however,  only  6  vols.  of  the  Fourth 
Series  (1774-1776),  and  3  vols.  of  the  Fifth  Series  (1776),  were  published. 

Sparks's  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  American  Revolution,  12  vols., 
is  valuable,  but  must  be  used  with  caution.  The  best  collection  is  Wharton's 
Revolutionary  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  6  vols. 

From  1789  onward  the  so-called  "Congressional  Documents"  are  of  pri 
mary  importance.  The  official  record  of  proceedings  in  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives  is  the  Journal,  printed  annually  by  each  house.  The 
Journal  does  not  contain  a  report  of  debates.  The  original  editions  of  the 
Journals  of  the  earlier  Congresses  are  now  scarce;  but  there  are  reprints  of 
those  from  1789  to  1815,  those  of  the  Senate  in  5  vols.,  those  of  the  House  in 
9  vols.  Certain  proceedings  of  the  Senate,  omitted  from  the  Journals  as 
issued  contemporaneously,  have  been  published  separately,  from  time  to  time, 
under  the  title  of  Journal  of  the  Executive  Proceedings  of  the  Senate,  some 
times  cited  as  Executive  or  Secret  Journals.  This  series,  numbering  1 8  vols., 
extends  to  1869.  Executive  proceedings  of  the  House,  to  1815,  are  contained 
in  the  reprint  edition  of  the  House  Journals,  and,  usually,  in  the  Annals  of 
Congress. 

The  documents  of  the  first  fourteen  Congresses  (1789-1817)  were  not  issued 
in  uniform  style.  From  1789  to  1801,  the  documents  were  bound  with  a  vari 
ety  of  titles,  such  as  Messages,  Reports,  or  simply  Documents.  From  1801  to 
1817,  the  binder's  title  is,  usually,  State  Papers,  From  the  1 5th  to  the  2gth 
Congress,  inclusive  (1817-1847),  the  documents  are  classified  as  follows: 
Senate  Journal,  Senate  Documents,  House  Journal,  House  Documents,  with 
the  addition,  from  the  1 6th  Congress,  of  House  Reports  of  Committees ;  but 
from  1817  to  1830,  the  House  Documents  often  have  the  binder's  title  State 
Papers,  and,  from  1830  to  1847,  tne  binder's  title  Executive  Documents. 
Beginning  with  the  3<Dth  Congress,  the  classification  is :  Senate  Jottrnal,  Sen 
ate  Executive  Documents,  Senate  Miscellaneous  Dociiments,  Senate  Reports  of 
Committees,  House  Journal,  House  Executive  Documents  (earlier  sets  fre- 


xii  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTE 

quently  have  the  binder's  title  Executive  Documents  only),  House  Miscella- 
neous  Documents,  House  Reports  of  Committees.  Executive  Documents  include 
communications  from  the  President  and  the  Executive  Departments;  Miscel 
laneous  Documents  include  all  other  papers  printed  by  order  of  either  house, 
except  the  Reports  of  Committees.  The  documents  in  each  series,  excepting, 
of  course,  the  Journals,  are  numbered  consecutively,  and  are  cited  by  the  title 
of  the  series,  the  number  of  the  document,  and  the  number  of  the  Congress 
and  session. 

The  most  important  documents  from  1789  to  about  1838,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Journals,  are  collected  in  a  series  entitled  American  State  Papers,  occa 
sionally,  from  the  size  of  the  volumes,  cited  as  Folio  State  Papers.  The  classi 
fication  is  as  follows:  Foreign  Relations,  6  vols.;  Indian  Affairs,  2  vols.; 
Finance,  5  vols.;  Commerce  and  Navigation,  2  vols.;  Alilitary  Affairs, 
7  vols.;  Naval  Affairs,  4  vols.;  Post  Office,  I  vol.;  Public  Lands,  8  vols.; 
Claims,  I  vol.;  Miscellaneous,  2  vols. 

Waite's  State  Papers  and  Public  Documents,  15  vols.,  covers  the  years  1789- 
1815.  The  papers  relate  chiefly  to  foreign  affairs. 

The  debates  in  Congress,  from  1789  to  1824,  are  reported  in  the  Annals  of 
Congress;  from  1825  to  1837,  *n  the  Register  of  Debates,  frequently  cited  as 
Congressional  Debates ;  from  1833  to  1873,  in  the  Congressional  Globe;  and, 
since  1873,  in  the  Congressional  Record.  The  Register  and  Globe  overlap,  the 
period  from  the  1st  session  of  the  23d  Congress  to  the  1st  session  of  the  25th 
Congress,  inclusive,  being  covered  by  both  works.  Until  the  2d  session  of  the 
3d  Congress,  the  Senate  sat  with  closed  doors;  no  record  of  the  debates, 
therefore,  will  be  found  in  the  Annals  for  that  period.  The  acts  of  Congress, 
and,  frequently,  important  documents,  are  printed  as  appendices  to  the  vol 
umes  for  each  Congress  of  each  of  the  above  series,  except  the  Record;  but 
the  texts  are  not  authoritative. 

Benton's  Abridgment  of  Debates  in  Congress,  16  vols.,  is  a  well-executed 
work,  very  useful  where  the  originals  cannot  be  had.  It  ends  with  1850. 

There  are  several  useful  indexes  to  the  public  documents.  Documents  to 
1863  are  indexed  in  the  catalogue  of  the  Boston  Public  Library,  and  to  1877 
in  the  catalogue  of  the  Boston  Athenaeum.  An  index  to  the  Journals,  ist  to 
loth  Congress,  inclusive,  forms  House  Report  2776,  46th  Cong.,  2d  Sess. ;  this 
is  continued,  nth  to  i6th  Congress,  inclusive,  in  House  Report  fSjd,  47th 
Cong.,  ist  Sess.  An  index  to  the  Executive  Documents  of  the  House,  to  the 
end  of  the  I4th  Congress,  is  in  House  Document  163,  i8th  Cong.,  ist  Sess.; 
for  an  index  to  the  House  Executive  Documents  and  Reports  of  Committees, 
22d  to  25th  Congress,  see  House  Documents,  25th  Cong.,  3d  Sess.  McPherson's 
Consolidated  Index  to  the  House  Executive  Documents,  26th  to  4Oth  Congress, 
and  a  similar  index,  for  the  same  period,  to  the  House  Reports  of  Committees, 
are  helpful,  as  are  McKee's  indexes  to  the  Reports  of  Committees  of  both 
Senate  and  House,  1815-1887.  The  best  guide  to  the  contents  of  the  various 
series  is  Ames's  List  of  Congressional  Documents,  I5th  to  5  ist  Congress. 
Poore's  Catalogue  of  Government  Publications  is  not  of  great  practical  use 
fulness. 

The  acts  of  Congress,  public  and  private,  are  published  under  the  title  of 
Statutes  at  Large.  Vol.  6  contains  private  laws  to  1845  5  vo1-  7» 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE  Xlll 

treaties;  vol.  8,  foreign  treaties,  and  a  general  index  to  1845.  Later  volumes 
are  separately  indexed. 

Public  laws  of  a  general  and  permanent  nature  are  separately  comp^ed, 
from  time  to  time,  under  a  topical  classification,  and  are  then  known  as  Revised 
Statutes.  There  have  been  several  editions  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  the  latest 
being  that  of  1878.  A  Supplement,  vol.  I,  2d  edition,  continues  the  revision 
to  cover  the  years  1874-1891;  and  vol.  2,  to  cover  the  years  1892-1895. 

The  treaties  between  the  United  States  and  foreign  powers,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  postal  treaties,  have  been  several  times  compiled.  The  collection  cited 
in  this  volume  is  entitled  Revised  .Statutes  of  the  United  States  relating  to  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  Post  Roads,  .  .  .  together  with  the  Ptiblic  Treaties 
in  force  on  the  first  day  of  December,  1873,  published  in  1875.  The  treaties, 
arranged  alphabetically  by  countries,  fill  the  last  half  of  the  volume,  which  is 
paged  separately.  A  later  and  somewhat  more  accessible  collection  is  the 
volume  of  Treaties  and  Conventions,  1 889,  printed  as  Senate  Exec.  Doc.  47, 
48th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  with  valuable  notes  by  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis.  The  two 
collections  show  minor  variations  in  text,  and  neither  agrees  with  the  text  in 
vol.  8  of  the  Statutes  at  Large. 

The  decisions  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  to  1874,  are  cited  by  the 
name  of  the  reporter,  as  follows:  Dallas,  1790-1800,  4  vols.;  Cranch,  1801- 
1815,  9  vols.;  Wheaton,  1816-1827,  12  vols.;  Peters,  1828-1842,  16  vols.; 
Howard,  1843-1860,  24  vols.;  Black,  1861-1862,  2  vols.;  Wallace,  1863- 
1874,  23  vols.  From  1875  to  J88i  tne  reports,  15  vols.,  are  cited  sometimes 
as  Otto,  sometimes  as  United  States  Reports ;  since  1881  the  title  is  United 
States  Reports. 


Select   Documents 

Illustrative  of  the 

t 

History  of  the   United   States 


No.  i.     Declaration  of  Independence 

July  4,  1776 

JUNE  7,  1776,  Richard  Henry  Lee  of  Virginia  submitted  to  the  Continental 
Congress  three  resolutions,  the  first  of  which  declared  "That  these  United 
Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  States,  that  they 
are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and  that  all  political 
connection  between  them  and  the  State  of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be, 
totally  dissolved."  The  resolutions  were  seconded  by  John  Adams,  and  on 
the  loth  a  committee,  consisting  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Adams,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  Roger  Sherman,  and  Robert  R.  Livingstone,  was  appointed  "  to  pre 
pare  a  declaration  to  the  effect  of  the  said  first  resolution."  On  the  28th  the 
committee  brought  in  a  draft  of  a  declaration  of  independence.  The  resolu 
tion  previously  submitted  was  adopted  July  2;  on  the  4th  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  agreed  to,  and  signed  by  John  Hancock  as  president  of  the 
Congress.  Congress  directed  that  copies  be  sent  "  to  the  several  Assemblies, 
Conventions,  and  Committees  or  Councils  of  Safety,  and  to  the  several  com 
manding  officers  of  the  continental  troops;  that  it  be  proclaimed  in  each  of 
the  United  States,  and  at  the  head  of  the  army."  The  members  of  Congress 
signed  the  Declaration  August  2. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  (ed.  1878).  There  are  many 
reprints.  A  facsimile  of  the  engrossed  copy  is  in  Force's  American  Archives, 
series  V.,  vol.  I.,  at  p.  1597;  a  printed  copy  showing  Jefferson's  original 
draft  and  the  changes  made  by  Congress  is  in  the  Madison  Papers,  I., 
19-27.  The  Journal  of  Congress  (ed.  1800),  II.,  gives  the  proceedings; 
Jefferson's  notes  of  the  debates  are  in  the  Madison  Papers,,  I.  Bancroft's 
United  States  (ed.  1860),  VIII.,  chaps.  69,  70,  gives  abstracts  of  speeches 
in  Congress,  and  a  discussion  of  the  Declaration  itself.  See  also  Ellis,  in 
Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  VI.,  231-274,  and  bibliographical 
notes;  Frothingham's  Rise  of  the  Republic,  chap,  ii;  Story's  Commentaries 
(ed.  1833),  I.,  190-208;  Randall's  Jefferson,  L,  chaps.  4,  5. 


In   Congress,  July  4, 

THE  UNANIMOUS  DECLARATION  br  THE  THIRTEEN  UNITED   STATES 
OF  AMERICA, 

WHEN  in  the  Course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necessary  for 
one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  connected 


2  DECLARATION   OF   INDEPENDENCE!  [Julj  4 

them  with  another,  and  to  assume  among  the  Powers  of  the  earu:, 
the  separate  and  e^ual  station  to  which  the  Laws  of  Nature  and 
of  Nature's  God  ehtitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to  th*  opinions  of 
mankind  requires  lhat  they  should  declare  th£  causes  which  impel 
them  to  the  sepan 
We  hold  these  t 
equal,  that  they  a 
alienable  Rights,  t 


ion. 


uths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  created 
e  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  un- 
at  among  these  are  Life,  Liberty  and,  the  pur 


suit  of  Happiness.  \vThat  to  secure  these  rights,  Governijnents  are 
instituted  among  Men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent 
of  the  governed,  That  whenever  any  Form  of  Government  becomes 
destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  Right  of  the  People  to  alter  or 
to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  new  Government,  laying  its  founda 
tion  on  such  principles  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form,  as 
to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  Safety  and  Happi 
ness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate  that  Governments  long  es 
tablished  should  not  be  changed  for  light  and  transient  causes; 
and  accordingly  all  experience  hath  shown,  that  mankind  are  more 
disposed  .0  suffer,  v/hile  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right  them 
selves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed.  But 
when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing  invariably 
the  same  Object  evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them  under  absolute 
Despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their  duty,  to  throw  off  such 
Government,  and  to  provide  new  Guards  for  their  future  security. 
—  Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance  of  these  Colonies  ;  and  such 
is  now  the  necessity  which  constrains  them  to  alter  their  former 
Systems  of  Government.  The  history  of  the  present  King  of  Great 
Britain  is  a  history  of  repeated  injuries  and  usurpations,  all  having 
in  dircc-  object  the  establishment  of  an  absolute  Tyranny  over  these 
States*  To  prove  this,  let  Facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world. 
He  has  refused  his  Assent  to  Laws,  the  most  wholesome  and 
necessary  for  the  public  good. 

->  He  has  forbidden  his  Governors  to  pass  Laws  of  immediate  and 
pressing  importance,  unless  suspended  in  their  operation  till  his 
Assent  should  be  obtained ;  and  when  so  suspended,  he  has 
utterly  neglected  to  attend  to  them. 

";  He  has  refused  to  pass  other  Laws  for  the  accommodation  of 
large  districts  of  people,  unless  those  people  would  relinquish  the 
right  of  Representation  in  the  Legislature,  a  right  inestimable  to 
them  and  formidable  to  tyrants  only. 


1776]  DECLARATION   OF  INDEPENDENCE  3 

r  He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  unusual, 
uncomfortable,  and  distant  from  the  depository  of  their  Public 
Records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into  compliance 
with  his  measures.  7\ 

He  has  dissolved  Representative  Houses  repeatedly,  for  oppos 
ing  with  manly  firmness  his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the  people. 
ij  He  has  refused  for  a  long  time,  after  such  dissolutions,  to  cause 
others  to  be  elected ;  whereby  the  Legislative  Powers,  incapable 
of  Annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  People  at  large  for  their 
exercise ;  the  State  remaining  in  the  mean  time  exposed  to  all 
the  dangers  of  invasion  from  without,  and  convulsions  within. 
1  He  has  endeavoured  to  prevent  the  population  of  these  States ; 
for  that  purpose  obstructing  the  Laws  of  Naturalization  of  For 
eigners  ;  refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage  their  migration 
hither,  and  raising  the  conditions  of  new  Appropriations  of  Lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  Administration  of  Justice,  by  refusing  his 
Assent  to  Laws  for  establishing  Judiciary  Powers. 

He  has  made  Judges  dependent  on  his  Will  alone,  for  the  tenure 
of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their  salaries. 
?^>  He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  New  Offices,  and  sent  hither 
swarms  of  Officers  to  harass  our  People,  and  eat  out  their  substance. 
'/  He  has  kept  among  us,  in  times  of  peace,  Standing  Armies 
without  the  Consent  of  our  legislature. 

vHe  has  affected  to  render  the  Military  independent  of  and 
superior  to  the  Civil  Power. 

i  -^He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction 
foreign  to   our  constitution,  and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws ; 
giving  his  Assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  legislation  : 
,  %  For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us  : 
15  For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  Trial,  from  Punishment  for  any 
Murders  which  they  should  commit  on  the  Inhabitants  of  these 
States  : 

i  ,.For  cutting  off  our  Trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world  :  < 

( -for  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  Consent : 

For  depriving  us  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefits  of  Trial  by  Jury  : 

For   transporting  us  beyond  Seas  to  be  tried  for  pretended 
offences  : 

f  For  abolishing  the  free  System  of  English  Laws  in  a  neighbour 
ing  Province,  establishing  therein  an  Arbitrary  government,  and 
enlarging  its  Boundaries  so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an  example  and 


^.  DECLARATION  OF   INDEPENDENCE  [July  4 

fit  instrument  for  introducing  the  same  absolute  rule  into  these 
Colonies  : 

•^For  taking  away  our  Charters,  abolishing  our  most  valuable 
Laws,  and  altering  fundamentally  the  Forms  of  our  Governments  : 
2^-uFor  suspending  our  own  Legislature,  and  declaring  themselves 
invested  with  Power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 
2.5  He  has  abdicated  Government  here,  by  declaring  us  out  of  his 
Protection  and  waging  War  against  us. 

i>  He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  Coasts,  burnt  our 
towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  peopIeT 
^  He  is  at  this  time  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign  merce 
naries  to  compleat  the  works  of  death,  desolation  and  tyranny, 
already  begun  with  circumstances  of  Cruelty  &  perfidy  scarcely 
paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous  ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the 
Head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

,0He  has  constrained  our  fellow  Citizens  taken  Captive  on  the 
high  Seas  to  bear  Arms  against  their  Country,  to  become  the 
executioners  of  their  friends  and  Brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves 
by  their  Hands. 

^  He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections  amongst  us,  and  has 
endeavoured  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers,  the 
merciless  Indian  Savages,  whose  known  rule  of  warfare,  is  an 
undistinguished  destruction  of  all  ages,  sexes  and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  Oppressions  We  have  Petitioned  for 
Redress  in  the  most  humble  terms  :  Our  repeated  Petitions  have 
been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A  Prince,  whose  charac 
ter  is  thus  marked  by  every  act  which  may  define  a  Tyrant,  is 
unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  People. 

Nor  have  We  been  wanting  in  attention  to  our  Brittish  brethren. 
We  have  warned  them  from  time  to  time  of  attempts  by  their 
legislature  to  extend  an  unwarrantable  jurisdiction  over  us.  We 
have  reminded  them  of  the  circumstances  of  our  emigration  and 
settlement  here.  We  have  appealed  to  their  native  justice  and 
magnanimity,  and  we  have  conjured  them  by  the  ties  of  our  com 
mon  kindred  to  disavow  these  usurpations,  which,  would  inevitably 
interrupt  our  connections  and  correspondence.  They  too  have 
been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  of  consanguinity.  We  must, 
therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  necessity,  which  denounces  our  Sepa 
ration,  and  hold  them,  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  Enemies 
in  War,  in  Peace  Friends. 


1776]  DECLARATION   OF   INDEPENDENCE  5 

We,  therefore,  the  Representatives  of  the  united  States  of 
/  America,  in  General  Congress,  Assembled,  appealing  to  the  Su 
preme  Judge  of  \ the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions,  do, 
in  the  Name,  and!  by  Authority  of  the  good  People  of  these  Colo 
nies,  solemnly  pmblish  and  declare,  That  these  United  Colonies 
are,  and  of  Right  ought  to  be  Free  and  Independent  States ;  that 
they  are  Absolved  from  all  Allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and 
that  all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  State  of  Great 
Britain,  is  and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved ;  and  that  as  Free 
and  Independent  States,  they  have  full  Power  to  levy  War,  con 
clude  Peace,  contract  Alliances,  establish  Commerce,  and  to  do 
all  other  Acts  and  Things  which  Independent  States  may  of 
right  do.  And  for  the  support  of  this  Declaration,  with  a  firm 
reliance  on  the  Protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we  mutually 
pledge  to  each  other  our  Lives,  our  Fortunes  and  our  sacred 
Honor. 

JOHN   HANCOCK. 


New  Hampshire  —  JOSIAH  BARTLETT,  WM.  WHIPPLE,  MATTHEW 
THORNTON. 

Massachusetts  Bay  —  SAML.  ADAMS,  JOHN  ADAMS,  ROBT.  TREAT 
PAINE,  ELBRIDGE  GERRY. 

Rhode  Island —  STEP.  HOPKINS,  WILLIAM  ELLERY. 

Connecticut — ROGER  SHERMAN,  SAM 'EL  HUNTINGTON,  WM.  WIL 
LIAMS,  OLIVER  WOLCOTT. 

New  York  —  WM.  FLOYD,  PHIL.  LIVINGSTON,  FRANS.  LEWIS, 
LEWIS  MORRIS. 

New  Jersey  —  RICHD.  STOCKTON,  JNO.  WITHERSPOON,  FRAS.  HOP- 
KINSON,  JOHN  HART,  ABRA.  CLARK. 

Pennsylvania  —  ROBT.  MORRIS,  BENJAMIN  RUSH,  BENJA.  FRANK 
LIN,  JOHN  MORTON,  GEO.  CLYMER,  JAS.  SMITH,  GEO.  TAYLOR,  JAMES 
WILSON,  GEO.  Ross. 

Delaware  —  C/ESAR  RODNEY,  GEO.  READ,  THO.  M'KEAN. 

Maryland — SAMUEL  CHASE,  WM.  PACA,  THOS.  STONE,  CHARLES 
CARROLL  of  Carrollton. 

Virginia  —  GEORGE  WYTHE,  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  TH.  JEFFER 
SON,  BENJA.  HARRISON,  THOS.  NELSON,  jr.,  FRANCIS  LIGHTFOOT  LEE, 
CARTER  BRAXTON. 

North  Carolina  —  WM.  HOOPER,  JOSEPH  HEWES,  JOHN  PENN. 


\ 


6  ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION  [Nov.  15 

South  Carolina  —  EDWARD  RUTLEDGE,  THOS.  HEYWARD,  Junr., 
THOMAS  LYNCH,  Junr.,  ARTHUR  MIDDLETON. 

Georgia  —  BUTTON  GWINNETT,  LYMAN  HALL,  GEO.  WALTON.* 


No.   2.     Articles  of  Confederation 

November  15,   1777 

JUNE  n,  1776,  the  Continental  Congress  resolved  "that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  prepare  and  digest  the  form  of  a  confederation  to  be  entered 
into  between  these  colonies."  The  committee,  consisting  of  one  member 
from  each  of  the  colonies  except  New  Jersey,  was  appointed  the  following 
day.  A  plan  drawn  up  by  John  Dickinson  of  Delaware,  a  member  of  the 
committee,  was  reported  July  12,  considered  in  Committee  of  the  Whole 
House  July  22,  and  debated  at  intervals  until  Nov.  15,  1777,  when,  with  some 
amendments,  it  was  agreed  to.  Congress  directed  that  "  these  articles  shall  be 
proposed  to  the  legislatures  of  all  the  United  States,  to  be  considered,  and  if 
approved  of  by  them,  they  are  advised  to  authorize  their  delegates  to  ratify 
the  same  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States;  which  being  done,  the  same 
shall  become  conclusive."  A  form  of  circular  letter  to  accompany  the  Arti 
cles  was  adopted  Nov.  17;  June  26,  1778,  a  form  of  ratification  was  agreed 
upon.  The  delegates  from  the  several  States  signed  the  Articles  as  follows : 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Planta 
tions,  Connecticut,  New  'York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia  and  South  Carolina, 
July  9,  1778;  North  Carolina,  July  21,  1778;  Georgia,  July  24,  1778;  New 
Jersey,  Nov.  26,  1778;  Delaware,  May  5,  1779;  Maryland,  March  I,  1781. 
Congress  met  under  the  Articles  March  2,  1781. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  (ed.  1878).  There  are  numerous 
reprints.  The  proceedings  of  Congress  are  in  the  Journal  (ed.  1800),  II.- 
VII.;  Jefferson's  notes  are  in  Elliot's  Debates  (ed.  1836),  I.,  100-107.  The 
circular  letter  accompanying  the  Articles  is  also  in  Elliot,  I.,  99,  100.  Story's 
Commentaries  (ed.  1833),  I.,  217-223,  gives  an  analysis  of  the  Articles.  See 
also  Bancroft's  United  States  (ed.  1866),  IX.,  chap.  26;  Pitkin's  United 
States,  II.,  chap,  ii;  Johnston,  in  Lalor^s  Cyclopcedia,  I.,  574-577;  Curtis's 
Origin,  Formation,  and  Adoption  of  the  Constitution,  I.,  chap.  6. 

To  all  to  whom  these  Presents  shall  come,  we  the  undersigned 
Delegates  of  the  States  affixed  to  our  Names  send  greeting. 

Whereas  the  Delegates  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Con 
gress  assembled  did  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  November  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  One  Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and  Seventy-seven, 

*  The  arrangement  of  the  names  of  the  signers  has  been  changed  from  that 
given  in  the  Revised  Statutes,  to  save  space.  The  names  are  spelled  as  in  the 
original.  —  ED. 


1777]  ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION  7 

and  in  the  Second  Year  of  the  Independence  of  America  agree  to 
certain  articles  of  Confederation  and  perpetual  Union  between 
the  States  of  Newhampshire,  Massachusetts-bay,  Rhodeisland 
and  Providence  Plantations,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North-Carolina,  South- 
Carolina  and  Georgia  in  the  Words  following,  viz. 

"Articles  of  Confederation  and  perpetual  Union  between  the 
States  of  Newhamshire,  Massachusetts-day,  Rhodeisland  and 
Providence  Plantations,  Connecticut,  New -York,  New -Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North- Carolina, 
South-  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

ARTICLE  I.  THE  stile  of  this  confederacy  shall  be  "  The 
United  States  of  America." 

ARTICLE  II.  EACH  State  retains  its  sovereignty,  freedom  and 
independence,  and  every  power,  jurisdiction  and  right,  which  is 
not  by  this  confederation  expressly  delegated  to  the  United  States, 
in  Congress  assembled. 

ARTICLE  III.  THE  said  States  hereby  severally  enter  into  a  firm 
league  of  friendship  with  each  other,  for  their  common  defence, 
the  security  of  their  liberties,  and  their  mutual  and  general  welfare, 
binding  themselves  to  assist  each  other,  against  all  force  offered 
to,  or  attacks  made  upon  them,  or  any  of  them,  on  account  of 
religion,  sovereignty,  trade,  or  any  other  pretence  whatever. 

ARTICLE  IV.  THE  better  to  secure  and  perpetuate  mutual 
friendship  and  intercourse  among  the  people  of  the__  different 
States  jn  this  Union,  the  free  inhabitants  of  each  of  these  States, 
p'aupers,  vagabonds  and  fugitives  from  justice  excepted,  shall  be 
entitled  to  all  privileges  and  immunities  of  free  citizens  in  the 
several  States ;  and  the  people  of  each  State  shall  have  free  in 
gress  and  regress  to  and  from  any  other  State,  and  shall  enjoy 
therein  all  the  privileges  of  trade  and  commerce,  subject  to  the 
same  duties,  impositions  and  restrictions  as  the  inhabitants  thereof 
respectively,  provided  that  such  restrictions  shall  not  extend  so 
far  as  to  prevent  the  removal  of  property  imported  into  any 
State,  to  any  other  state  of  which  the  owner  is  an  inhabitant ; 
provided  also  that  no  imposition,  duties  or  restriction  shall  be 
laid  by  any  State,  on  the  property  of  the  United  States,  or  either 
of  them. 

IF  any  Person  guilty  of,  or  charged  with  treason,  felony,  or 
other  high  misdemeanor  in  any  State,  shall  flee  from  justice,  and 


8  ARTICLES   OF   CONFEDERATION  [Nov.  15 

be  found  in  any  of  the  United  States,  he  shall  upon  demand  of 
the  Governor  or  Executive  power,  of  the  State  from  which  he  fled, 
be  delivered  up  and  removed  to  the  State  having  jurisdiction  of 
his  offence. 

Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each  of  these  States  to 
the  records,  acts  and  judicial  proceedings  of  the  courts  and  magis 
trates  of  every  other  State. 

ARTICLE  V.  FOR  the  more  convenient  management  of  the  gen 
eral  interest  of  the  United  States,  delegates  shall  be  annually 
appointed  in  such  manner  as  the  legislature  of  each  State  shall 
direct,  to  meet  in  Congress  on  the  first  Monday  in  November, 
in  every  year,  with  a  power  reserved  to  each  State,  to  recall  its 
delegates,  or  any  of  them,  at  any  time  within  the  year,  and  to 
send  others  in  their  stead,  for  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

No  State  shall  be  represented  in  Congress  by  less  than  two,  nor 
by  more  than  seven  members ;  and  no  person  shall  be  capable  of 
being  a  delegate  for  more  than  three  years  in  any  term  of  six 
years ;  nor  shall  any  person,  being  a  delegate,  be  capable  of  hold 
ing  any  office  under  the  United  States,  for  which  he,  or  another 
for  his  benefit  receives  any  salary,  fees  or  emolument  of  any  kind. 

Each  State  shall  maintain  its  own  delegates  in  a  meeting  of  the 
States,  and  while  they  act  as  members  of  the  committee  of  the 
States. 

In  determining  questions  in  the  United  States,  in  Congress 
assembled,  each  State  shall  have  one  vote. 

Freedom  of  speech  and  debate  in  Congress  shall  not  be  im 
peached  or  questioned  in  any  court,  or  place  out  of  Congress,  and 
the  members  of  Congress  shall  be  protected  in  their  persons  from 
arrests  and  imprisonments,  during  the  time  of  their  going  to  and 
from,  and  attendance  on  Congress,  except  for  treason,  felony,  or 
breach  of  the  peace. 

ARTICLE  VI.  No  State  without  the  consent  of  the  United  States 
in  Congress  assembled,  shall  send  any  embassy  to,  or  receive  any 
embassy  from,  or  enter  into  any  conference,  agreement,  alliance 
or  treaty  with  any  king,  prince  or  state ;  nor  shall  any  person 
holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  under  the  United  States,  or 
any  of  them,  accept  of  any  present,  emolument,  office  or  title  of 
any  kind  whatever  from  any  king,  prince  or  foreign  state ;  nor 
shall  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  or  any  of  them, 
grant  any  title  of  nobility. 


1777]  ARTICLES   OF  CONFEDERATION  9 

No  two  or  more  States  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  confedera 
tion  or  alliance  whatever  between  them,  without  the  consent  of 
the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  specifying  accurately 
the  purposes  for  which  the  same  is  to  be  entered  into,  and  how 
long  it  shall  continue. 

No  State  shall  lay  any  imposts  or  duties,  which  may  interfere 
with  any  stipulations  in  treaties,  entered  into  by  the  United  States 
in  Congress  assembled,  with  any  king,  prince  or  state,  in  pursu 
ance  of  any  treaties  already  proposed  by  Congress,  to  the  courts 
of  France  and  Spain. 

No  vessels  of  war  shall  be  kept  up  in  time  of  peace  by  any 
State,  except  such  number  only,  as  shall  be  deemed  necessary  by 
the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  for  the  defence  of  such 
State,  or  its  trade  ;  nor  shall  any  body  of  forces  be  kept  up  by  any 
State,  in  time  of  peace,  except  such  number  only,  as  in  the  judg 
ment  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  shall  be  deemed 
requisite  to  garrison  the  forts  necessary  for  the  defence  of  such 
State ;  but  every  State  shall  always  keep  up  a  well  regulated  and 
disciplined  militia,  sufficiently  armed  and  accoutered,  and  shall 
provide  and  constantly  have  ready  for  use,  in  public  stores,  a  due 
number  of  field  pieces  and  tents,  and  a  proper  quantity  of  arms, 
ammunition  and  camp  equipage. 

No  State  shall  engage  in  any  war  without  the  consent  of  the 
United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  unless  such  State  be  actually 
invaded  by  enemies,  or  shall  have  received  certain  advice  of  a 
resolution  being  formed  by  some  nation  of  Indians  to  invade  such 
State,  and  the  danger  is  so  imminent  as  not  to  admit  'of  a  delay- 
till  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  can  be  consulted  : 
nor  shall  any  State  grant  commissions  to  any  ships  or  vessels  of 
war,  nor  letters  of  marque  or  reprisal,  except  it  be  after  a  declara 
tion  of  war  by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  and  then 
only  against  the  kingdom  or  state  and  the  subjects  thereof,  against 
which  war  has  been  so  declared,  and  under  such  regulations  as 
shall  be  established  by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled, 
unless  such  State  be  infested  by  pirates,  in  which  case  vessels  of 
war  may  be  fitted  out  for  that  occasion,  and  kept  so  long  as  the 
danger  shall  continue,  or  until  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled  shall  determine  otherwise. 

ARTICLE  VII.  WHEN  land-forces  are  raised  by  any  State  for 
the  common  defence,  all  officers  of  or  under  the  rank  of  colonel, 


10  ARTICLES   OF   CONFEDERATION  [Nov.  15 

shall  be  appointed  by  the  Legislature  of  each  State  respectively  by 
whom  such  forces  shall  be  raised,  or  in  such  manner  as  such  State 
shall  direct,  and  all  vacancies  shall  be  filled  up  by  the  State  which 
first  made  the  appointment. 

ARTICLE  VIII.  ALL  charges  of  war,  and  all  other  expenses  that 
shall  be  incurred  for  the  common  defence  or  general  welfare,  and 
allowed  by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  shall  be  de 
frayed  out  of  a  common  treasury,  which  shall  be  supplied  by  the 
several  States,  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  all  land  within  each 
State,  granted  to  or  surveyed  for  any  person,  as  such  land  and  the 
buildings  and  improvements  thereon  shall  be  estimated  according 
to  such  mode  as  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  shall 
from  time  to  time  direct  and  appoint. 

The  taxes  for  paying  that  proportion  shall  be  laid  and  levied  by 
the  authority  and  direction  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States 
within  the  time  agreed  upon  by  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled. 

ARTICLE  IX.  THE  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  shall 
have  the  sole  and  exclusive  right  and  power  of  determining  on 
peace  and  war,  except  in  the  cases  mentioned  in  the  sixth  article 
—  of  sending  and  receiving  ambassadors  —  entering  into  treaties 
and  alliances,  provided  that  no  treaty  of  commerce  shall  be  made 
whereby  the  legislative  power  of  the  respective  States  shall  be 
restrained  from  imposing  such  imposts  and  duties  on  foreigners, 
as  their  own  people  are  subjected  to,  or  from  prohibiting  the  ex 
portation  or  importation  of  any  species  of  goods  or  commodities 
whatsoever  —  of  establishing  rules  for  deciding  in  all  cases,  what 
captures  on  land  or  water  shall  be  legal,  and  in  what  manner  prizes 
taken  by  land  or  naval  forces  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  divided  or  appropriated  —  of  granting  letters  of  marque 
and  reprisal  in  times  of  peace  —  appointing  courts  for  the  trial  of 
piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the  high  seas  and  establishing 
courts  for  receiving  and  determining  finally  appeals  in  all  cases  of 
captures,  provided  that  no  member  of  Congress  shall  be  appointed 
a  judge  of  any  of  the  said  courts. 

THE  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  shall  also  be  the  last 
resort  on  appeal  in  all  disputes  and  differences  now  subsisting  or 
that  hereafter  may  arise  between  two  or  more  States  concerning 
boundary,  jurisdiction  or  any  other  cause  whatever;  which  au 
thority  shall  always  be  exercised  in  the  manner  following.  When- 


1777]  ARTICLES   OF  CONFEDERATION  II 

ever  the  legislative  or  executive  authority  or  lawful  agent  of  any 
State  in  controversy  with  another  shall  present  a  petition  to  Con 
gress,  stating  the  matter  in  question  and  praying  for  a  hearing, 
notice  thereof  shall  be  given  by  order  of  Congress  to  the  legisla 
tive  or  executive  authority  of  the  other  State  in  controversy,  and 
a  day  assigned  for  the  appearance  of  the  parties  by  their  lawful 
agents,  who  shall  then  be  directed  to  appoint  by  joint  consent, 
commissioners  or  judges  to  constitute  a  court  for  hearing  and 
determining  the  matter  in  question :  but  if  they  cannot  agree, 
Congress  shall  name  three  persons  out  of  each  of  the  United 
States,  and  from  the  list  of  such  persons  each  party  shall  alter 
nately  strike  out  one,  the  petitioners  beginning,  until  the  number 
shall  be  reduced  to  thirteen ;  and  from  that  number  not  less  than 
seven,  nor  more  than  nine  names  as  Congress  shall  direct,  shall  in 
the  presence  of  Congress  be  drawn  out  by  lot,  and  the  persons 
whose  names  shall  be  so  drawn  or  any  five  of  them,  shall  be  com 
missioners  or  judges,  to  hear  and  finally  determine  the  contro 
versy,  so  always  as  a  major  part  of  the  judges  who  shall  hear  the 
cause  shall  agree  in  the  determination :  and  if  either  party  shall 
neglect  to  attend  at  the  day  appointed,  without  showing  reasons, 
which  Congress  shall  judge  sufficient,  or  being  present  shall  refuse 
to  strike,  the  Congress  shall  proceed  to  nominate  three  persons 
out  of  each  State,  and  the  Secretary  of  Congress  shall  strike  in 
behalf  of  such  party  absent  or  refusing ;  and  the  judgment  and 
sentence  of  the  court  to  be  appointed,  in  the  manner  before  pre 
scribed,  shall  be  final  and  conclusive ;  and  if  any  of  the  parties 
shall  refuse  to  submit  to  the  authority  of  such  court,  or  to  appear 
or  defend  their  claim  or  cause,  the  court  shall  nevertheless  proceed 
to  pronounce  sentence,  or  judgment,  which  shall  in  like  manner 
be  final  and  decisive,  the  judgment  or  sentence  and  other  pro 
ceedings  being  in  either  case  transmitted  to  Congress,  and  lodged 
among  the  acts  of  Congress  for  the  security  of  the  parties  con 
cerned  :  provided  that  every  commissioner,  before  he  sits  in 
judgment,  shall  take  an  oath  to  be  administered  by  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  supreme  or  superior  court  of  the  State,  where  the 
cause  shall  be  tried,  "well  and  truly  to  hear  and  determine 
the  matter  in  question,  according  to  the  best  of  his  judgment, 
without  favour,  affection  or  hope  of  reward  :  "  provided  also  that 
no  State  shall  be  deprived  of  territory  for  the  benefit  of  the  United 
States. 


12  ARTICLES   OF  CONFEDERATION  [Nov.  15 

All  controversies  concerning  the  private  right  of  soil  claimed 
under  different  grants  of  two  or  more  States,  whose  jurisdiction 
as  they  may  respect  such  lands,  and  the  States  which  passed  such 
grants  are  adjusted,  the  said  grants  or  either  of  them  being  at  the 
same  time  claimed  to  have  originated  antecedent  to  such  settle 
ment  of  jurisdiction,  shall  on  the  petition  of  either  party  to  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  be  finally  determined  as  near  as 
may  be  in  the  same  manner  as  is  before  prescribed  for  deciding 
disputes  respecting  territorial  jurisdiction  between  different  States. 

THE  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  shall  also  have  the 
sole  and  exclusive  right  and  power  of  regulating  the  alloy  and 
value  of  coin  struck  by  their  own  authority,  or  by  that  of  the 
respective  States  —  fixing  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures 
throughout  the  United  States  —  regulating  the  trade  and  manag 
ing  all  affairs  with  the  Indians,  not  members  of  any  of  the  States, 
provided  that  the  legislative  right  of  any  State  within  its  own  limits 
be  not  infringed  or  violated  —  establishing  and  regulating  post- 
offices  from  one  State  to  another,  throughout  all  the  United 
States,  and  exacting  such  postage  on  the  papers  passing  thro'  the 
same  as  may  be  requisite  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  said  office 
—  appointing  all  officers  of  the  land  forces,  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  excepting  regimental  officers  —  appointing  all  the 
officers  of  the  naval  forces,  and  commissioning  all  officers  what 
ever  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  —  making  rules  for  the 
government  and  regulation  of  the  said  land  and  naval  forces,  and 
directing  their  operations. 

THE  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  shall  have  authority 
to  appoint  a  committee,  to  sit  in  the  recess  of  Congress,  to  be 
denominated  "  a  Committee  of  the  States,"  and  to  consist  of  one 
delegate  from  each  State ;  and  to  appoint  such  other  committees 
and  civil  officers  as  may  be  necessary  for  manageing  the  general 
affairs  of  the  United  States  under  their  direction  —  to  appoint  one 
of  their  number  to  preside,  provided  that  no  person  be  allowed  to 
serve  in  the  office  of  president  more  than  one  year  in  any  term  of 
three  years ;  to  ascertain  the  necessary  sums  of  money  to  be 
raised  for  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  to  appropriate  and 
apply  the  same  for  defraying  the  public  expenses  —  to  borrow 
money,  or  emit  bills  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States,  transmit 
ting  every  half  year  to  the  respective  States  an  account  of  the 
sums  of  money  so  borrowed  or  emitted,  —  to  build  and  equip  a 


I777]  ARTICLES   OF  CONFEDERATION  13 

navy — -to  agree  upon  the  number  of  land  forces,  and  to  make 
requisitions  from  each  State  for  its  quota,  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  white  inhabitants  in  such  State ;  which  requisition 
shall  be  binding,  and  thereupon  the  Legislature  of  each  State  shall 
appoint  the  regimental  officers,  raise  the  men  and  cloath,  arm  and 
equip  them  in  a  soldier  like  manner,  at  the  expense  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  the  officers  and  men  so  cloathed,  armed  and  equipped 
shall  march  to  the  place  appointed,  and  within  the  time  agreed  on 
by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  :  but  if  the  United 
States  in  Congress  assembled  shall,  on  consideration  of  circum 
stances  judge  proper  that  any  State  should  not  raise  men,  or  should 
raise  a  smaller  number  than  its  quota,  and  that  any  other  State 
should  raise  a  greater  number  of  men  than  the  quota  thereof,  such 
extra  number  shall  be  raised,  officered,  cloathed,  armed  and 
equipped  in  the  same  manner  as  the  quota  of  such  State,  unless 
the  legislature  of  such  State  shall  judge  that  such  extra  number 
cannot  be  safely  spared  out  of  the  same,  in  which  case  they  shall 
raise  officer,  cloath,  arm  and  equip  as  many  of  such  extra  num 
ber  as  they  judge  can  be  safely  spared.  And  the  officers  and  men 
so  cloathed,  armed  and  equipped,  shall  march  to  the  place  ap 
pointed,  and  within  the  time  agreed  on  by  the  United  States  in 
Congress  assembled. 

THE  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  shall  never  engage 
in  a  war,  nor  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  in  time  of  peace, 
nor  enter  into  any  treaties  or  alliances,  nor  coin  money,  nor  regu 
late  the  value  thereof,  nor  ascertain  the  sums  and  expenses  neces 
sary  for  the  defence  and  welfare  of  the  United  States,  or  any  of 
them,  nor  emit  bills,  nor  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the 
United  States,  nor  appropriate  money,  nor  agree  upon  the  num 
ber  of  vessels  of  war,  to  be  built  or  purchased,  or  the  number  cf 
land  or  sea  forces  to  be  raised,  nor  appoint  a  commander  in  chief 
of  the  army  or  navy,  unless  nine  States  assent  to  the  same  :  nor 
shall  a  question  on  any  other  point,  except  for  adjourning  from 
day  to  day  be  determined,  unless  by  the  votes  of  a  majority  of 
the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled. 

THE  Congress  of  the  United  States  shall  have  power  to  adjourn 
to  any  time  within  the  year,  and  to  any  place  within  the  United 
States,  so  that  no  period  of  adjournment  be  for  a  longer  ^duration 
than  the  space  of  six  months,  and  shall  publish  the  journal  of  their 
proceedings  monthly,  except  such  parts  thereof  relating  to  treaties, 


14  ARTICLES   OF   CONFEDERATION  [Nov.  15 

alliances  or  military  operations,  as  in  their  judgment  require  se- 
cresy ;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  delegates  of  each  State  on 
any  question  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal,  when  it  is  desired 
by  any  delegate ;  and  the  delegates  of  a  State,  or  any  of  them, 
at  his  or  their  request  shall  be  furnished  with  a  transcript  of  the 
said  journal,  except  such  parts  as  are  above  excepted,  to  lay  before 
the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States. 

ARTICLE  X.  THE  committee  of  the  States,  or  any  nine  of 
them,  shall  be  authorized  to  execute,  in  the  recess  of  Congress, 
such  of  the  powers  of  Congress  as  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled,  by  the  consent  of  nine  States,  shall  from  time  to  time 
think  expedient  to  vest  them  with ;  provided  that  no  power  be 
delegated  to  the  said  committee,  for  the  exercisf  of  which,  by  the 
articles  of  confederation,  the  voice  of  nine  States  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  assembled  is  requisite. 

ARTICLE  XL  Canada  acceding  to  this  confederation,  and  join 
ing  in  the  measures  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  admitted  into, 
and  entitled  to  all  the  advantages  of  this  Union :  but  no  other 
colony  shall  be  admitted  into  the  same,  unless  such  admission  be 
agreed  to  by  nine  States. 

ARTICLE  XII.  ALL  bills  of  credit  emitted,  monies  borrowed 
and  debts  contracted  by,  or  under  the  authority  of  Congress, 
before  the  assembling  of  the  United  States,  in  pursuance  of  the 
present  confederation,  shall  be  deemed  and  considered  as  a 
charge  against  the  United  States,  for  payment  and  satisfaction 
whereof  the  said  United  States,  and  the  public  faith  are  hereby 
solemnly  pledged. 

ARTICLE  XIII.  EVERY  State  shall  abide  by  the  determinations 
of  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  on  all  questions 
which  by  this  confederation  are  submitted  to  them.  And  the 
articles  of  this  confederation  shall  be  inviolably  observed  by 
every  State,  and  the  Union  shall  be  perpetual ;  nor  shall  any 
alteration  at  any  time  hereafter  be  made  in  any  of  them ;  unless 
such  alteration  be  agreed  to  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  be  afterwards  confirmed  by  the  Legislatures  of  every  State. 

And  whereas  it  hath  pleased  the  Great  Governor  of  the  World 
to  incline  the  hearts  of  the  Legislatures  we  respectively  represent 
in  Congress,  to  approve  of,  and  to  authorize  us  to  ratify  the  said 
articles  of  confederation  and  perpetual  union.  Know  ye  that  we 
the  undersigned  delegates,  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  authority 


1777J  TREATY  OF  PARIS  I  $ 

to  us  given  for  that  purpose,  do  by  these  presents,  in  the  name 
and  in  behalf  of  our  respective  constituents,  fully  and  entirely 
ratify  and  confirm  each  and  every  of  the  said  articles  of  confed 
eration  and  perpetual  union,  and  all  and  singular  the  matters  and 
things  therein  contained :  and  we  do  further  solemnly  plight  and 
engage  the  faith  of  our  respective  constituents,  that  they  shall 
abide  by  the  determinations  of  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled,  on  all  questions,  which  by  the  said  confederation  are 
submitted  to  them.  And  that  the  articles  thereof  shall  be  invio 
lably  observed  by  the  States  we  respectively  represent,  and  that 
the  Union  shall  be  perpetual. 

In  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunto  set  our  hands  in  Congress. 
Done  at  Philadelphia  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  the  ninth  day 
of  July  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seventy- eight,  and  in  the  third  year  of  the  independence  of 
America.* 


No.  3.     Treaty  of  Paris 

September  3,  1783 

CORNWALLIS  surrendered  Oct.  19,  1781.  News  of  the  surrender  reached 
Versailles  Nov.  19,  and  London  Nov.  25,  two  days  before  the  meeting  of  Par 
liament.  March  5,  1782,  Parliament  passed  an  act  enabling  the  King  to  make 
peace  or  a  truce  until  July  I,  1783.  On  the  2Oth  Lord  North  resigned,  and 
the  Rockingham  ministry  came  into  power,  to  be  followed  in  July  by  the  Shel- 
burne  ministry.  England  had  the  task  of  making  peace  with  America,  France, 
Holland,  and  Spain,  a  task  which  was  further  complicated  by  the  existence  of 
alliances  between  France  and  America  and  France  and  Spain,  and  the  hostility 
of  Spain  to  the  United  States.  Notwithstanding  instructions  from  Congress 
"  to  be  guided  by  the  wishes  of  the  French  court,"  the  American  commission 
ers  decided  to  enter  into  separate  negotiations  with  Great  Britain.  April  15, 
1782,  Franklin  received  from  Lord  Shelburne  the  first  communication  relative 
to  a  treaty.  A  provisional  treaty  was  signed  at  Paris  Nov.  30,  1782,  a  cessa 
tion  of  hostilities  being  declared  Jan.  20,  1783.  The  definitive  treaty,  in  the 
same  terms  as  the  provisional  articles,  was  not  signed  until  Sept.  3,  1783,  the 
interval  being  taken  up  with  the  adjustment  of  peace  between  England  and 
France.  Congress  ratified  the  treaty  Jan.  14,  1784. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  the  District  of  Columbia, 
etc.  (ed.  1875),  266-269.  The  diplomatic  correspondence  is  given  by  Wharton, 
Dipt.  Carres,  of  the  Amer.  Rev.,  V.,  VI.,  and  Sparks,  Dipl.  Corres.,  VI.,  VII. 
The  course  of  the  negotiations  is  followed  in  detail  by  Wharton,  Digest  of 
Intern.  Law  (ed.  1887),  III.,  892-956;  compare  John  Jay,  in  Winsor's  Nar- 
*  The  names  of  the  signers  are  omitted.  —  ED. 


1 6  TREATY   OF   PARIS  [Sept.  3 

rative  and  Critical  History,  VII.,  89-169,  and  correspondence  of  William  Jay 
and  J.  Q.  Adams  in  Mag.  of  Amer.  Hist.,  III.,  39-45.  Important  general 
accounts  are:  Bancroft's  United  States  (ed.  1874),  X., chaps.  26-29;  Curtis, 
in  Harper's  Magazine,  LXVL,  666-682,  833-844;  Lecky's  England  in  the 
iSth  Cent,  (Amer.  ed.),  IV.,  218-289.  There  are  valuable  notes  in  Winsor, 
op,  cit.,  VII.,  170-184,  on  fisheries  and  northern  boundaries  under  the  treaty. 
Later  correspondence  regarding  the  non-execution  of  certain  provisions  of  the 
treaty  relative  to  loyalists'  estates  and  the  rights  of  British  creditors  in  United 
States  courts,  is  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Foreign  Relations,  I.,  188-243;  see 
also  Ellis,  in  Winsor,  VII.,  185-214. 

In  the  name  of  the  Most  Holy  and  Undivided  Trinity. 

It  having  pleased  the  Divine  Providence  to  dispose  the  hearts 
of  the  most  serene  and  most  potent  Prince  George  the  Third,  by 
the  Grace  of  God  King  of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Ireland, 
Defender  of  the  Faith,  Duke  of  Brunswick  and  Luneberg,  Arch- 
Treasurer  and  Prince  Elector  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  &ca., 
and  of  the  United  States  of  America,  to  forget  all  past  misunder 
standings  and  differences  that  have  unhappily  interrupted  the 
good  correspondence  and  friendship  which  they  mutually  wish  to 
restore;  and  to  establish  such  a  beneficial  and  satisfactory  inter 
course  between  the  two  countries,  upon  the  ground  of  reciprocal 
advantages  and  mutual  convenience,  as  may  promote  and  secure 
to  both  perpetual  peace  and  harmony:  And  having  for  this 
desirable  end  already  laid  the  foundation  of  peace  and  recon 
ciliation,  by  the  provisional  articles,  signed  at  Paris,  on  the 
3oth  of  Nov'r,  1782,  by  the  commissioners  empowered  on  each 
part,  which  articles  were  agreed  to  be  inserted  in  and  to  consti 
tute  the  treaty  of  peace  proposed  to  be  concluded  between  the 
Crown  of  Great  Britain  and  the  said  United  States,  but  which 
treaty  was  not  to  be  concluded  until  terms  of  peace  should  be 
agreed  upon  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  His  Britan 
nic  Majesty  should  be  ready  to  conclude  such  treaty  accordingly; 
and  the  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  France  having  since 
been  concluded,  His  Britannic  Majesty  and  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  order  to  carry  into  full  effect  the  provisional  articles 
above  mentioned,  according  to  the  tenor  thereof,  have  constituted 
and  appointed,  that  is  to  say,  His  Britannic  Majesty  on  his  part, 
David  Hartley,  esqr.,  member  of  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain; 
and  the  said  United  States  on  their  part,  John  Adams,  esqr.,  late 
a  commissioner  of  the  United  States  of  America  at  the  Court  of 
Versailles,  late  Delegate  in  Congress  from  the  State  of  Massachu- 


1783]  TREATY   OF   PARIS  17 

setts,  and  chief  justice  of  the  said  State,  and  Minister  Plenipo 
tentiary  of  the  said  United  States  to  their  High  Mightinesses  the 
States  General  of  the  United  Netherlands;  Benjamin  Franklin, 
esq're,  late  Delegate  in  Congress  from  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
president  of  the  convention  of  the  said  State,  and  Minister  Pleni 
potentiary  from  the  United  States  of  America  at  the  Court  of 
Versailles;  John  Jay,  esq're,  late  president  of  Congress,  and 
chief  justice  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  Minister  Plenipo 
tentiary  from  the  said  United  States  at  the  Court  of  Madrid,  to 
be  the  Plenipotentiaries  for  the  concluding  and  signing  the 
present  definitive  treaty;  who,  after  having  reciprocally  commu 
nicated  their  respective  full  powers,  have  agreed  upon  and  con 
firmed  the  following  articles : 

ARTICLE  I. 

His  Britannic  Majesty  acknowledges  the  said  United  States, 
viz.  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode  Island,  and 
Providence  Plantations,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  to  be  free,  sovereign  and  inde 
pendent  States;  that  he  treats  with  them  as  such,  and  for  him 
self,  his  heirs  and  successors,  relinquishes  all  claims  to  the 
Government,  propriety  and  territorial  rights  of  the  same,  and 
every  part  thereof. 

ARTICLE  II. 

And  that  all  disputes  which  might  arise  in  future,  on  the  sub 
ject  of  the  boundaries  of  the  said  United  States  may  be  pre 
vented,  it  is  hereby  agreed  and  declared,  that  the  following  are, 
and  shall  be  their  boundaries,  viz :  From  the  northwest  angle  of 
Nova  Scotia,  viz.  that  angle  which  is  formed  by  a  line  drawn  due 
north  from  the  source  of  Saint  Croix  River  to  the  Highlands; 
along  the  said  Highlands  which  divide  those  rivers  that  empty 
themselves  into  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  from  those  which  fall 
into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  to  the  northwesternmost  head  of  Con 
necticut  River;  thence  down  along  the  middle  of  that  river,  to 
the  forty-fifth  degree  of  north  latitude;  from  thence,  by  a  line 
due  west  on  said  latitude,  until  it  strikes  the  river  Iroquois  or 
Cataraquy;  thence  along  the  middle  of  said  river  into  Lake 
Ontario,  through  the  middle  of  said  lake  until  it  strikes  the  com 
munication  by  water  between  that  lake  and  Lake  Erie;  thence 
c 


1 8  TREATY  OF  PARIS  [Sept.  3 

along  the  middle  of  said  communication  into  Lake  Erie,  through 
the  middle  of  said  lake  until  it  arrives  at  the  water  communica 
tion  between  that  lake  and  Lake  Huron;  thence  along  the  middle 
of  said  water  communication  into  the  Lake  Huron;  thence  through 
the  middle  of  said  lake  to  the  water  communication  between  that 
lake  and  Lake  Superior;  thence  through  Lake  Superior  northward 
of  the  Isles  Royal  and  Phelipeaux,  to  the  Long  Lake;  thence 
through  the  middle  of  said  Long  Lake,  and  the  water  communi 
cation  between  it  and  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  to  the  said  Lake 
of  the  Woods;  thence  through  the  said  lake  to  the  most  north 
western  point  thereof,  and  from  thence  on  a  due  west  course  to 
the  river  Mississippi;  thence  by  a  line  to  be  drawn  along  the 
piddle  of  the  said  river  Mississippi  until  it  shall  intersect  the 
northernmost  part  of  the  thirty-first  degree  of  north  latitude. 
South,  by  a  line  to  be  drawn  due  east  from  the  determination  of 
the  line  last  mentioned,  in  the  latitude  of  thirty-one  degrees 
north  of  the  Equator,  to  the  middle  of  the  river  Apalachicola  or 
Catahouche;  thence  along  the  middle  thereof  to  its  junction  with 
the  Flint  River;  thence  straight  to  the  head  of  St.  Mary's  River; 
and  thence  down  along  the  middle  of  St.  Mary's  River  to  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  East,  by  a  line  to  be  drawn  along  the  middle 
of  the  river  St.  Croix,  from  its  mouth  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  its 
source,  and  from  its  source  directly  north  to  the  aforesaid  High 
lands,  which  divide  the  rivers  that  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
from  those  which  fall  into  the  river  St.  Lawrence;  comprehend- 
mg  all  islands  within  twenty  leagues  of  any  part  of  the  shores  of 
the  United  States,  and  lying  between  lines  to  be  drawn  due  east 
from  the  points  where  the  aforesaid  boundaries  between  Nova 
Scotia  on  the  one  part,  and  East  Florida  on  the  other,  shall 
respectively  touch  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean; 
excepting  such  islands  as  now  are,  or  heretofore  have  been, 
within  the  limits  of  the  said  province  of  Nova  Scotia. 

ARTICLE  III. 

It  is  agreed  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  shall  continue 
to  enjoy  unmolested  the  right  to  take  fish  of  every  kind  on  the 
Grand  Bank,  and  on  all  the  other  banks  of  Newfoundland;  also 
in  the  Gulph  of  Saint  Lawrence,  and  at  all  other  places  in  the 
sea  where  the  inhabitants  of  both  countries  used  at  any  time 
heretofore  to  fish.  And  also  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  United 


1783]  TREATY   OF  PARIS  1 9 

States  shall  have  liberty  to  take  fish  of  every  kind  on  such  part 
of  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  as  British  fishermen  shall  use  (but 
not  to  dry  or  cure  the  same  on  that  island)  and  also  on  the  coasts, 
bays,  and  creeks  of  all  other  of  His  Britannic  Majesty's  domin 
ions  in  America;  and  that  the  American  fishermen  shall  have 
liberty  to  dry  and  cure  fish  in  any  of  the  unsettled  bays,  harbours, 
and  creeks  of  Nova  Scotia,  Magdalen  Islands,  and  Labrador,  so 
long  as  the  same  shall  remain  unsettled;  but  so  soon  as  the  same 
or  either  of  them  shall  be  settled,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the 
said  fishermen  to  dry  or  cure  fish  at  such  settlement,  without  a 
previous  agreement  for  that  purpose  with  ,the  inhabitants,  pro 
prietors,  or  possessors  of  the  ground. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

It  is  agreed  that  creditors  on  either  side  shall  meet  with  no 
lawful  impediment  to  the  recovery  of  the  full  value  in  sterling 
money,  of  all  bona  fide  debts  heretofore  contracted. 

ARTICLE  V. 

It  is  agreed  that  the  Congress  shall  earnestly  recommend  it  to 
the  legislatures  of  the  respective  States,  to  provide  for  the  resti 
tution  of  all  estates,  rights,  and  properties  which  have  been  con 
fiscated,  belonging  to  real  British  subjects,  and  also  of  the  estates, 
rights,  and  properties  of  persons  resident  in  districts  in  the  pos 
session  of  His  Majesty's  arms,  and  who  have  not  borne  arms 
against  the  said  United  States.  And  that  persons  of  any  other 
description  shall  have  free  liberty  to  go  to  any  part  or  parts  of 
any  of  the  thirteen  United  States,  and  therein  to  remain  twelve 
months,  unmolested  in  their  endeavours  to  obtain  the  restitution 
of  such  of  their  estates,  rights,  and  properties  as  may  have  been 
confiscated;  and  that  Congress  shall  also  earnestly  recommend 
to  the  several  States  a  reconsideration  and  revision  of  all  acts  or 
laws  regarding  the  premises,  so  as  to  render  the  said  laws  or  acts 
perfectly  consistent,  not  only  with  justice  and  equity,  but  with 
that  spirit  of  conciliation  which,  on  the  return  of  the  blessings  of 
peace,  should  universally  prevail.  And  that  Congress  shall  also 
earnestly  recommend  to  the  several  States,  that  the  estates,  rights, 
and  properties  of  i.uch  last  mentioned  persons,  shall  be  restored 
to  them,  they  refunding  to  any  persons  who  may  be  now  in  pos 
session,  the  bona  fide  price  (where  any  has  been  given)  which 


2O  TREATY   OF   PARIS  [Sept.  3 

such  persons  may  have  paid  on  purchasing  any  of  the  said  lands, 
rights,  or  properties,  since  the  confiscation.  And  it  is  agreed, 
that  all  persons  who  have  any  interest  in  confiscated  lands,  either 
by  debts,  marriage  settlements,  or  otherwise,  shall  meet  with  no 
lawful  impediment  in  the  prosecution  of  their  just  rights. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

That  there  shall  be  no  future  confiscations  made,  nor  any  prose 
cutions  commenc'd  against  any  person  or  persons  for,  or  by  reason 
of  the  part  which  he  or  they  may  have  taken  in  the  present  war; 
and  that  no  person  shall,  on  that  account,  suffer  any  future  loss 
or  damage,  either  in  his  person,  liberty,  or  property;  and  that 
those  who  may  be  in  confinement  on  such  charges,  at  the  time  of 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty  in  America,  shall  be  immediately  set 
at  liberty,  and  the  prosecutions  so  commenced  be  discontinued. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

There  shall  be  a  firm  and  perpetual  peace  between  His  Bri 
tannic  Majesty  and  the  said  States,  and  between  the  subjects  of 
the  one  and  the  citizens  of  the  other,  wherefore  all  hostilities, 
both  by  sea  and  land,  shall  from  henceforth  cease :  All  prisoners 
on  both  sides  shall  be  set  at  liberty,  and  His  Britannic  Majesty 
shall,  with  all  convenient  speed,  and  without  causing  any  destruc 
tion,  or  carrying  away  any  negroes  or  other  property  of  the  Ameri 
can  inhabitants,  withdraw  all  his  armies,  garrisons,  and  fleets  from 
the  said  United  States,  and  from  every  port,  place,  and  harbour 
within  the  same;  leaving  in  all  fortifications  the  American  artil 
lery  that  may  be  therein:  And  shall  also  order  and  cause  all 
archives,  records,  deeds,  and  papers,  belonging  to  any  of  the 
said  States,  or  their  citizens,  which,  in  the  course  of  the  war, 
may  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  his  officers,  to  be  forthwith 
restored  and  deliver' d  to  the  proper  States  and  persons  to  whom 
they  belong. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  navigation  of  the  river  Mississippi,  from  its  source  to  the 
ocean,  shall  forever  remain  free  and  open  to  the  subjects  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

In  case  it  should  so  happen  that  any  place  or  territory  belong 
ing  to  Great  Britain  or  to  the  United  States,  should  have  been 


1783]  ORDINANCE   OF   1787  21 

conquer 'd  by  the  arms  of  either  from  the  other,  before  the  arrival 
of  the  said  provisional  articles  in  America,  it  is  agreed,  that  the 
same  shall  be  restored  without  difficulty,  and  without  requiring 
any  compensation. 

ARTICLE  X. 

The  solemn  ratifications  of  the  present  treaty,  expedited  in  good 
and  due  form,  shall  be  exchanged  between  the  contracting  par 
ties,  in  the  space  of  six  months,  or  sooner  if  possible,  to  be  com 
puted  from  the  day  of  the  signature  of  the  present  treaty.  In 
witness  whereof,  we  the  undersigned,  their  Ministers  Plenipoten 
tiary,  have  in  their  name  and  in  virtue  of  our  full  powers,  signed 
with  our  hands  the  present  definitive  treaty,  and  caused  the  seals 
of  our  arms  to  be  affix' d  thereto. 

Done  at  Paris,  this  third  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three. 

D.  HARTLEY.  [L.S.] 
JOHN  ADAMS.  [L.S.] 
B.  FRANKLIN.  [L.s.jJ 
JOHN  JAY  [L.S.] 


No.   4,     Ordinance  of  1787 

July  13,   1787 

MARCH  I,  1784,  the  Virginia  delegates  in  Congress,  in  pursuance  of  an  act 
of  the  general  assembly  of  that  State,  passed  Dec.  20,  1783,  executed  a  deed 
of  cession  to  the  United  States  of  the  northwestern  territory  claimed  by  Vir 
ginia;  and  by  act  of  April  23  Congress  provided  a  temporary  government. 
During  the  next  three  years  various  plans  for  the  government  of  the  territory 
were  brought  forward.  July  n,  1787,  a  committee,  of  which  Nathan  Dane  of 
Massachusetts  was  chairman,  reported  an  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River;  on  the  1 2th  a 
clause  forbidding  slavery  in  the  territory  was  added  as  an  amendment;  and 
on  the  1 3th  the  bill  became  a  law.  By  act  of  Aug.  7,  1789,  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  continued  the  ordinance  in  effect;  and  the  act  of  May  25, 
1790,  extended  the  main  provisions  of  the  ordinance  to  territory  south  of  the 
Ohio  River. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  (ed.  1878).  The  act  of  the  Vir 
ginia  assembly,  and  the  deed  of  cession,  are  in  Poore's  Federal  and  State 
Constitutions,  I.,  427,  428.  The  act  of  1784  is  in  the  Journal  of  Congress 
(ed.  1800),  IX.,  109,  no;  Jefferson's  plan  is  in  Randall's  Jefferson,  I.,  397- 
399.  The  detailed  history  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  and  the  part  played  by 
Manasseh  Cutler,  were  first  shown  by  W.  F.  Poole,  in  North  Amer.  Rev., 


22  ORDINANCE  OF    1787  [July  13 

CXXIL,  229-265;  the  ordinance  proposed  in  May,  1787,  is  printed  by  Poole, 
ib.t  242-244.  A  fuller  account  is  in  the  Life,  Journals  and  Correspondence 
of  Manasseh  Cutler,  I.,  chap.  8.  Barrett's  Evolution  of  the  Ordinance  of 
ijS?  gives  an  account  of  early  plans,  with  maps.  See  also  Life  and  Public 
Services  of  Artlmr  St.  Clair,  II.  (cf.  review  in  Nation,  XXXIV.,  383-385); 
Johnston,  in  Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  III.,  30-34;  Hinsdale's  Old  Nortlnv est,  chap. 
15;  and  articles  in  Mag.  ofAmer.  Hist.,  XVI.,  133-147;  XXII.,  483-486. 

An  Ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  northiuest  of  the  river  Ohio. 

SECTION  i.  Be  it  ordained  by  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled,  That  the  said  territory,  for  the  purposes  of  temporary 
government,  be  one  district,  subject,  however,  to  be  divided  into 
two  districts,  as  future  circumstances  may,  in  the  opinion  of  Con 
gress,  make  it  expedient. 

SEC.  2.  Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the 
estates  both  of  resident  and  non-resident  proprietors  in  the  said 
territory,  dying  intestate,  shall  descend  to,  and  be  distributed 
among,  their  children  and  the  descendants  of  a  deceased  child  in. 
equal  parts,  the  descendants  of  a  deceased  child  or  grandchild 
to  take  the  share  of  their  deceased  parent  in  equal  parts  among 
them  :  and  where  there  shall  be  no  children  or  descendants,  then 
in  equal  parts  to  the  next  of  kin,  in  equal  degree ;  and  among 
collaterals,  the  children  of  a  deceased  brother  or  sister  of  the 
intestate  shall  have,  in  equal  parts  among  them,  their  deceased 
parent's  share ;  and  there  shall,  in  no  case,  be  a  distinction 
between  kindred  of  the  whole  and  half  blood  ;  saving  in  all  cases 
to  the  widow  of  the  intestate,  her  third  part  of  the  real  estate  for 
life,  and  one-third  part  of  the  personal  estate  ;  and  this  law  relative 
to  descents  and  dower,  shall  remain  in  full  force  until  altered  by 
the  legislature  of  the  district.  And  until  the  governor  and  judges 
shall  adopt  laws  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  estates  in  the  said 
territory  may  be  devised  or  bequeathed  by  wills  in  writing,  signed 
and  sealed  by  him  or  her  in  whom  the  estate  may  be,  (being  of 
full  age,)  and  attested  by  three  witnesses ;  and  real  estates  may 
be  conveyed  by  lease  and  release,  or  bargain  and  sale,  signed, 
sealed,  and  delivered  by  the  person,  being  of  full  age,  in  whom 
the  estate  may  be,  and  attested  by  two  witnesses,  provided  such 
wills  be  duly  proved,  and  such  conveyances  be  acknowledged, 
or  the  execution  thereof  duly  proved,  and  be  recorded  within 
one  year  after  proper  magistrates,  courts,  and  registers  shall,  be 


1787]  ORDINANCE  OF   1787  23 

appointed  for  that  purpose ;  and  personal  property  may  be  trans 
ferred  by  delivery,  saving,  however,  to  the  French  and  Canadian 
inhabitants,  and  other  settlers  of  the  Kaskaskies,  Saint  Vincents,  and 
the  neighboring  villages,  who  have  heretofore  professed  themselves 
citizens  of  Virginia,  their  laws  and  customs  now  in  force  among 
them,  relative  to  the  descent  and  conveyance  of  property. 

SEC.  3.  Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid y  That  there 
shall  be  appointed,  from  time  to  time,  by  Congress,  a  governor, 
whose  commission  shall  continue  in  force  for  the  term  of  three 
years,  unless  sooner  revoked  by  Congress ;  he  shall  reside  in  the 
district,  and  have  a  freehold  estate  therein  in  one  thousand  acres 
of  land,  while  in  the  exercise  of  his  office. 

SEC.  4.  There  shall  be  appointed  from  time  to  time,  by  Con 
gress,  a  secretary,  whose  commission  shall  continue  in  force  for 
four  years,  unless  sooner  revoked ;  he  shall  reside  in  the  district, 
and  have  a  freehold  estate  therein,  in  five  hundred  acres  of  land, 
while  in  the  exercise  of  his  office.  It  shall  be  his  duty  to  keep 
and  preserve  the  acts  and  laws  passed  by  the  legislature,  and  the 
public  records  of  the  district,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  governor 
in  his  executive  department,  and  transmit  authentic  copies  of  such 
acts  and  proceedings  every  six  months  to  the  Secretary  of  Con 
gress.  There  shall  also  be  appointed  a  court,  to  consist  of  three 
judges,  any  two  of  whom  to  form  a  court,  who  shall  have  a  common- 
law  jurisdiction,  and  reside  in  the  district,  and  have  each  therein 
a  freehold  estate,  in  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  while  in  the 
exercise  of  their  offices ;  and  their  commissions  shall  continue  in 
force  during  good  behavior. 

SEC.  5.  The  governor  and  judges,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall 
adopt  and  publish  in  the  district  such  laws  of  the  original  States, 
criminal  and  civil,  as  may  be  necessary,  and  best  suited  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  district,  and  report  them  to  Congress  from 
time  to  time,  which  laws  shall  be  in  force  in  the  district  until  the 
organization  of  the  general  assembly  therein,  unless  disapproved 
of  by  Congress  ;  but  afterwards  the  legislature  shall  have  authority 
to  alter  them  as  they  shall  think  fit. 

SEC.  6.  The  governor,  for  the  time  being,  shall  be  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  militia,  appoint  and  commission  all  officers  in  the 
same  below  the  rank  of  general  officers  ;  all  general  officers  shall 
be  appointed  and  commissioned  by  Congress. 

SEC.  7.     Previous  to  the  organization  of  the  general  assembly 


24  ORDINANCE  OF    1787  [July  13 

the  governor  shall  appoint  such  magistrates,  and  other  civil  officers, 
in  each  county  or  township,  as  he  shall  find  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  the  peace  and  good  order  in  the  same.  After 
the  general  assembly  shall  be  organized  the  powers  and  duties 
of  the  magistrates  and  other  civil  officers  shall  be  regulated  and 
denned  by  the  said  assembly ;  but  all  magistrates  and  other  civil 
officers,  not  herein  otherwise  directed,  shall,  during  the  con 
tinuance  of  this  temporary  government,  be  appointed  by  the 
governor. 

SEC.  8.  For  the  prevention  of  crimes  and  injuries,  the  laws  to 
be  adopted  or  made  shall  have  force  in  all  parts  of  the  district, 
and  for  the  execution  of  process,  criminal  and  civil,  the  governor 
shall  make  proper  divisions  thereof;  and  he  shall  proceed,  from 
time  to  time,  as  circumstances  may  require,  to  lay  out  the  parts 
of  the  district  in  which  the  Indian  titles  shall  have  been  extin 
guished,  into  counties  and  townships,  subject,  however,  to  such 
alterations  as  may  thereafter  be  made  by  the  legislature. 

SEC.  9.  So  soon  as  there  shall  be  five  thousand  free  male 
inhabitants,  of  full  age,  in  the  district,  upon  giving  proof  thereof 
to  the  governor,  they  shall  receive  authority,  with  time  and  place, 
to  elect  representatives  from  their  counties  or  townships,  to  repre 
sent  them  in  the  general  assembly :  Provided,  That  for  every  five 
hundred  free  male  inhabitants  there  shall  be  one  representative, 
and  so  on,  progressively,  with  the  number  of  free  male  inhabitants, 
shall  the  right  of  representation  increase,  until  the  number  of 
representatives  shall  amount  to  twenty-five ;  after  which  the  num 
ber  and  proportion  of  representatives  shall  be  regulated  by  the 
legislature  :  Provided,  That  no  person  be  eligible  or  qualified  to 
act  as  a  representative,  unless  he  shall  have  been  a  citizen  of  one 
of  the  United  States  three  years,  and  be  a  resident  in  the  district, 
or  unless  he  shall  have  resided  in  the  district  three  years ;  and,  in 
either  case,  shall  likewise  hold  in  his  own  right,  in  fee-simple,  two 
hundred  acres  of  land  within  the  same  :  Provided,  also,  That  a 
freehold  in  fifty  acres  of  land  in  the  district,  having  been  a  citizen 
of  one  of  the  States,  and  being  resident  in  the  district,  or  the  like 
freehold  and  two  years'  residence  in  the  district,  shall  be  necessary 
to  qualify  a  man  as  an  elector  of  a  representative. 

SEC.  10.  The  representatives  thus  elected  shall  serve  for  the 
term  of  two  years ;  and  in  case  of  the  death  of  a  representative, 
or  removal  from  office,  the  governor  shall  issue  a  writ  to  the 


1787]  ORDINANCE  OF    1787  2$ 

county  or  township,  for  which  he  was  a  member,  to  elect  another 
in  his  stead,  to  serve  for  the  residue  of  the  term. 

SEC.  ii.  The  general  assembly,  or  legislature,  shall  consist  of 
the  governor,  legislative  council,  and  a  house  of  representatives. 
The  legislative  council  shall  consist  of  five  members,  to  continue 
in  office  five  years,  unless  sooner  removed  by  Congress  ;  any  three 
of  whom  to  be  a  quorum ;  and  the  members  of  the  council  shall 
be  nominated  and  appointed  in  the  following  manner,  to  wit :  As 
soon  as  representatives  shall  be  elected  the  governor  shall  appoint 
a  time  and  place  for  them  to  meet  together,  and  when  met  they 
shall  nominate  ten  persons,  residents  in  the  district,  and  each 
possessed  of  a  freehold  in  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  return 
their  names  to  Congress,  five  of  whom  Congress  shall  appoint  and 
commission  to  serve  as  aforesaid ;  and  whenever  a  vacancy  shall 
happen  in  the  council,  by  death  or  removal  from  office,  the  house 
of  representatives  shall  nominate  two  persons,  qualified  as  afore 
said,  for  each  vacancy,  and  return  their  names  to  Congress,  one 
of  whom  Congress  shall  appoint  and  commission  for  the  residue 
of  the  term ;  and  every  five  years,  four  months  at  least  before 
the  expiration  of  the  time  of  service  of  the  members  of  council, 
the  said  house  shall  nominate  ten  persons,  qualified  as  aforesaid, 
and  return  their  names  to  Congress,  five  of  whom  Congress  shall 
appoint  and  commission  to  serve  as  members  of  the  council  five 
years,  unless  sooner  removed.  And  the  governor,  legislative  coun 
cil,  and  house  of  representatives  shall  have  authority  to  make 
laws  in  all  cases  for  the  good  government  of  the  district,  not 
repugnant  to  the  principles  and  articles  in  this  ordinance  estab 
lished  and  declared.  And  all  bills,  having  passed  by  a  majority 
in  the  house,  and  by  a  majority  in  the  council,  shall  be  referred 
to  the  governor  for  his  assent ;  but  no  bill,  or  legislative  act 
whatever,  shall  be  of  any  force  without  his  assent.  The  governor 
shall  have  power  to  convene,  prorogue,  and  dissolve  the  general 
assembly  when,  in  his  opinion,  it  shall  be  expedient. 

SEC.  12.  The  governor,  judges,  legislative  council,  secretary, 
and  such  other  officers  as  Congress  shall  appoint  in  the  district, 
shall  take  an  oath  or  affirmation  of  fidelity,  and  of  office ;  the 
governor  before  the  President  of  Congress,  and  all  other  officers 
before  the  governor.  As  soon  as  a  legislature  shall  be  formed  in 
the  district,  the  council  and  house  assembled,  in  one  room,  shall 
have  authority,  by  joint  ballot,  to  elect  a  delegate  to  Congress. 


26  ORDINANCE  OF   1787  [July  13 

who  shall  have  a  seat  in  Congress,  with  a  right  of  debating,  but 
not  of  voting,  during  this  temporary  government. 

SEC.  13.  And  for  extending  the  fundamental  principles  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty,  which  form  the  basis  whereon  these  republics, 
their  laws  and  constitutions,  are  erected  ;  to  fix  and  establish  those 
principles  as  the  basis  of  all  laws,  constitutions,  and  governments, 
which  forever  hereafter  shall  be  formed  in  the  said  territory ; 
to  provide,  also,  for  the  establishment  of  States,  and  permanent 
government  therein,  and  for  their  admission  to  a  share  in  the 
Federal  councils  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  at 
as  early  periods  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  general  interest : 

SEC.  14.  It  is  hereby  ordained  and  declared,  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  that  the  following  articles  shall  be  considered  as  articles 
of  compact,  between  the  original  States  and  the  people  and  States 
in  the  said  territory,  and  forever  remain  unalterable,  unless  by 
common  consent,  to  wit : 

ARTICLE  I. 

No  person,  demeaning  himself  in  a  peaceable  and  orderly  man 
ner,  shall  ever  be  molested  on  account  of  his  mode  of  worship,  or 
religious  sentiments,  in  the  said  territories. 

ARTICLE  II. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  said  territory  shall  always  be  entitled  to 
the  benefits  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  of  the  trial  by  jury ; 
of  a  proportionate  representation  of  the  people  in  the  legislature, 
and  of  judicial  proceedings  according  to  the  course  of  common 
law.  All  persons  shall  be  bailable,  unless  for  capital  offences, 
where  the  proof  shall  be  evident,  or  the  presumption  great.  All 
fines  shall  be  moderate ;  and  no  cruel  or  unusual  punishments 
shall  be  inflicted.  No  man  shall  be  deprived  of  his  liberty  or 
property,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the  law  of  the  land, 
and  should  the  public  exigencies  make  it  necessary,  for  the  com 
mon  preservation,  to  take  any  person's  property,  or  to  demand 
his  particular  services,  full  compensation  shall  be  made  for  the 
same.  And,  in  the  just  preservation  of  rights  and  property,  it  is 
understood  and  declared,  that  no  law  ought  ever  to  be  made  or 
have  force  in  the  said  territory,  that  shall,  in  any  manner  whatever, 
interfere  with  or  affect  private  contracts,  or  engagements,  bonafide, 
and  without  fraud  previously  formed. 


1787]  ORDINANCE  OF   1787  27 

ARTICLE  III. 

Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to  good 
government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means 
of  education  shall  forever  be  encouraged.  The  utmost  good  faith 
shall  always  be  observed  towards  the  Indians ;  their  lands  and 
property  shall  never  be  taken  from  them  without  their  consent ; 
and  in  their  property,  rights,  and  liberty  they  never  shall  be 
invaded  or  disturbed,  unless  in  just  and  lawful  wars  authorized  by 
Congress ;  but  laws  founded  in  justice  and  humanity  shall,  from 
time  to  time,  be  made,  for  preventing  wrongs  being  done  to  them, 
and  for  preserving  peace  and  friendship  with  them. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  said  territory,  and  the  States  which  may  be  formed  therein, 
shall  forever  remain  a  part  of  this  confederacy  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  subject  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  to 
such  alterations  therein  as  shall  be  constitutionally  made;  and 
to  all  the  acts  and  ordinances  of  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled,  conformable  thereto.  The  inhabitants  and  settlers  in 
the  said  territory  shall  be  subject  to  pay  a  part  of  the  Federal 
debts,  contracted,  or  to  be  contracted,  and  a  proportional  part 
of  the  expenses  of  government  to  be  apportioned  on  them  by 
Congress,  according  to  the  same  common  rule  and  measure 
by  which  apportionments  thereof  shall  be  made  on  the  other 
States ;  and  the  taxes  for  paying  their  proportion  shall  be  laid 
and  levied  by  the  authority  and  direction  of  the  legislatures  of  the 
district,  or  districts,  or  new  States,  as  in  the  original  States,  within 
the  time  agreed  upon  by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled. 
The  legislatures  of  those  districts,  or  new  States,  shall  never  inter 
fere  with  the  primary  disposal  of  the  soil  by  the  United  States  in 
Congress  assembled,  nor  with  any  regulations  Congress  may  find 
necessary  for  securing  the  title  in  such  soil  to  the  bona  fide  pur 
chasers.  No  tax  shall  be  imposed  on  lands  the  property  of  the 
United  States ;  and  in  no  case  shall  non-resident  proprietors  be 
taxed  higher  than  residents.  The  navigable  waters  leading  into 
the  Mississippi  and  Saint  Lawrence,  and  the  carrying  places 
between  the  same,  shall  be  common  highways,  and  forever  free, 
as  well  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  territory  as  to  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  and  those  of  any  other  States  that  may  be 


28  ORDINANCE  OF   1787  [July  13 

admitted  into  the  confederacy,  without  any  tax,  impost,  or  duty 
therefor. 

ARTICLE  V. 

There  shall  be  formed  in  the  said  territory  not  less  than  three 
nor  more  than  five  States ;  and  the  boundaries  of  the  States, 
as  soon  as  Virginia  shall  alter  her  act  of  cession  and  consent  to 
the  same,  shall  become  fixed  and  established  as  follows,  to  wit : 
The  western  State,  in  the  said  territory,  shall  be  bounded  by  the 
Mississippi,  the  Ohio,  and  the  Wabash  Rivers  ;  a  direct  line  drawn 
from  the  Wabash  and  Post  Vincents,  due  north,  to  the  territorial 
line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada ;  and  by  the  said 
territorial  line  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  and  Mississippi.  The 
middle  State  shall  be  bounded  by  the  said  direct  line,  the  Wabash 
from  Post  Vincents  to  the  Ohio,  by  the  Ohio,  by  a  direct  line 
drawn  due  north  from  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  to  the  said 
territorial  line,  and  by  the  said  territorial  line.  The  eastern  State 
shall  be  bounded  by  the  last-mentioned  direct  line,  the  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  said  territorial  line  :  Provided,  however, 
And  it  is  further  understood  and  declared,  that  the  boundaries 
of  these  three  States  shall  be  subject  so  far  to  be  altered,  that,  if 
Congress  shall  hereafter  find  it  expedient,  they  shall  have  authority 
to  form  one  or  two  States  in  that  part  of  the  said  territory  which 
lies  north  of  an  east  and  west  line  drawn  through  the  southerly 
bend  or  extreme  of  Lake  Michigan.  And  whenever  any  of  the 
said  States  shall  have  sixty  thousand  free  inhabitants  therein,  such 
State  shall  be  admitted,  by  its  delegates,  into  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  in  all 
respects  whatever ;  and  shall  be  at  liberty  to  form  a  permanent 
constitution  and  State  government :  Provided,  The  constitution 
and  government,  so  to  be  formed,  shall  be  republican,  and  in 
conformity  to  the  principles  contained  in  these  articles,  and,  so 
far  as  it  can  be  consistent  with  the  general  interest  of  the  con 
federacy,  such  admission  shall  be  allowed  at  an  earlier  period,  and 
when  there  may  be  a  less  number  of  free  inhabitants  in  the  State 
than  sixty  thousand. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the 
said  territory,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes,  whereof 
the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted  :  Provided  always,  That 


1787]  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  2Q 

any  person  escaping  into  the  same,  from  whom  labor  or  service  is 
lawfully  claimed  in  any  one  of  the  original  States,  such  fugitive 
may  be  lawfully  reclaimed,  and  conveyed  to  the  person  claiming 
his  or  her  labor  or  service  as  aforesaid. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  resolutions 
of  the  23d  of  April,  1784,  relative  to  the  subject  of  this  ordinance, 
be,  and  the  same  are  hereby,  repealed,  and  declared  null  and 
void. 

Done  by  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  the  i3th 

day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord   1787,  and  of  their 

sovereignty  and  independence  the  twelfth. 


No.  5.     Constitution  of  the  United  States 

September  17,  1787 

IN  January,  1786,  the  legislature  of  Virginia  adopted  a  resolution  providing 
for  the  appointment  of  commissioners  to  confer  with  representatives  from 
other  States  in  regard  to  the  commercial  interests  of  the  United  States.  In 
response  to  this  resolution,  delegates  from  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Penn 
sylvania,  Delaware,  and  Virginia,  met  Sept.  I,  and  reported  in  favor  of  a 
convention  of  representatives  from  all  the  States,  to  meet  at  Philadelphia  in 
May  following,  to  consider  what  further  provisions  were  needed  "  to  make 
the  Constitution  of  the  Federal  Government  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
Union."  A  resolution  favoring  a  convention  was  adopted  by  Congress,  Feb.  21, 
1787.  The  convention  was  called  for  May  14;  May  25,  seven  States  being 
represented,  George  Washington  was  chosen  president,  and  consideration  of 
the  proposed  constitution  was  begun.  July  24  the  provisions  as  agreed  upon 
were  sent  to  a  Committee  of  Detail  to  be  embodied  in  a  formal  constitution. 
The  committee  reported  Aug.  6;  Sept.  8  a  Committee  of  Style  was  appointed; 
on  the  1 5th  the  amended  form  of  constitution  was  agreed  to,  and  on  the  I7th 
signed  by  all  but  three  of  the  delegates  present.  The  Constitution  was  trans 
mitted  to  Congress  with  an  explanatory  letter,  and  a  resolution  indicating  the 
way  in  which  the  proposed  government  should  be  put  into  operation.  On  the 
28th  of  September  Congress  transmitted  the  Constitution,  with  the  letter  and 
resolution,  to  the  State  legislatures  for  submission  to  a  convention  of  delegates 
in  each  State.  The  States  ratified  the  Constitution  as  follows:  Delaware, 
Dec.  7  ;  Pennsylvania,  Dec.  12;  New  Jersey,  Dec.  18,  1787;  Georgia,  Jan.  2  ; 
Connecticut,  Jan.  9;  Massachusetts,  Feb.  7 ;  Maryland,  April  28;  South 
Carolina,  May  23;  New  Hampshire,  June  21;  Virginia,  June  25;  New  York, 
July  26,  1788;  North  Carolina,  Nov.  21,  1789;  Rhode  Island,  May  29,  1790. 

REFERENCES.  — Official  text  in  Revised  Statutes  (ed.  1878).  There  are  many 
reprints.  The  text  in  the  Revised  Statutes  is  accompanied  by  references  to 
judicial  decisions,  and  an  elaborate  analytical  index.  The  Journal  of  the 


30  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES        [Sept.  17 

convention  was  printed  at  Boston,  1819;  it  is  also  in  Elliot's  Debates  (ed. 
1836),  I.,  176—348.  Madison's  notes  of  the  debates  are  in  the  Madison 
Papers,  II.,  III.,  and  in  Elliot;  for  Yates's  minutes,  Elliot,  I.,  439-515. 
The  various  plans  submitted  are  mentioned  in  Madison's  notes  and  in  the 
Journal.  The  resolution  of  Sept.  17,  the  accompanying  letter  to  Congress, 
and  the  resolution  of  Congress,  Sept.  28,  are  in  Elliot,  I.,  52,  53;  texts  of  the 
ratifications  of  the  States,  ib.,  I.,  349-375.  There  is  a  brief  history  of  the 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  in  Labor's  Cyclopedia,  I.,  607-610.  The 
classical  exposition  of  the  Constitution  is  the  Federalist,  of  which  there  are 
numerous  editions :  Dawson's  "  university  edition  "  has  an  elaborate  analysis. 
On  the  sources  of  the  Constitution,  Johnston,  in  New  Princeton  Rev.,  IV., 
175-190;  Robinson,  in  Annals  of  the  Amer.  Acad.  of  Polit.  and  Soc.  Science, 
I.,  203—243  ;  Stevens,  Soztrces  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  See 
also  Curtis's  Origin,  Formation,  and  Adoption  of  the  Constitution  ;  Bancroft's 
History  of  the  Formation  of  the  Constitution,  bks.  III.— V. ;  Story's  Com 
mentaries  (ed.  1833),  vol.  I.,  bk.  III.,  chaps.  I,  2;  Curtis,  in  Winsor's 
Narrative  and  Critical  History,  VII.,  237-255,  and  bibliographical  note. 

WE  THE  PEOPLE  of  the  United  States,  in  Order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  Union,  establish  Justice,  insure  domestic  Tranquility, 
provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  Welfare, 
and  secure  the  Blessings  of  Liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  Pos 
terity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  CONSTITUTION  for  the  United 
States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  I. 

SECTION,  i.  All  legislative  Powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested 
in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives. 

SECTION.  2.*  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed 
of  Members  chosen  every  second  Year  by  the  People  of  the  several 
States,  and  the  Electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  Qualifications 
requisite  for  Electors  of  the  most  numerous  Branch  of  the  State 
Legislature. 

No  Person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have  attained 
to  the  Age  of  twenty-five  Years,  and  been  seven  Years  a  Citizen  of 
the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabi 
tant  of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

Representatives  and  direct  Taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among 
the  several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  accord 
ing  to  their  respective  Numbers,  which  shall  be  determined  by 
adding  to  the  whole  Number  of  free  Persons,  including  those 

*  The  numbers  prefixed  to  the  paragraphs  in  the  Revised  Statutes  are  omitted. 

—ED. 


1787]  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  31 

bound  to  Service  for  a  Term  of  Years,  and  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed,  three  fifths  of  all  other  Persons.  The  actual  Enumeration 
shall  be  made  within  three  Years  after  the  first  Meeting  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within  every  subsequent  Term 
of  ten  Years,  in  such  Manner  as  they  shall  by  Law  direct.  The 
Number  of  Representatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty 
Thousand,  but  each  State  shall  have  at  Least  one  Representative ; 
and  until  such  enumeration  shall  be  made,  the  State  of  New 
Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  chuse  three,  Massachusetts  eight, 
Rhode-Island  and  Providence  Plantations  one,  Connecticut  five, 
New-York  six,  New  Jersey  four,  Pennsylvania  eight,  Delaware  one, 
Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North  Carolina  five,  South  Carolina 
five,  and  Georgia  three. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  Representation  from  any  State, 
the  Executive  Authority  thereof  shall  issue  Writs  of  Election  to  fill 
such  Vacancies. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  chuse  their  Speaker  and 
other  Officers ;  and  shall  have  the  sole  Power  of  Impeachment. 

SECTION.  3.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed 
of  two  Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof, 
for  six  Years ;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  Vote. 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  Consequence  of 
the  first  Election,  they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into 
three  Classes.  The  Seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first  Class  shall 
be  vacated  at  the  Expiration  of  the  second  year,  of  the  second 
Class  at  the  Expiration  of  the  fourth  Year,  and  of  the  third  Class 
at  the  Expiration  of  the  sixth  Year,  so  that  one  third  may  be 
chosen  every  second  Year ;  and  if  Vacancies  happen  by  Resigna 
tion,  or  otherwise,  during  the  Recess  of  the  Legislature  of  any 
State,  the  Executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  Appointments 
until  the  next  Meeting  of  the  Legislature,  which  shall  then  fill 
such  Vacancies. 

No  Person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to 
the  Age  of  thirty  Years,  and  been  nine  Years  a  Citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabitant 
of  that  State  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

The  Vice  President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  President  of 
the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  Vote,  unless  they  be  equally 
divided. 

The  Senate  shall  chuse  their  other  Officers,  and  also  a  President 


32  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES        [Sept.  17 

pro  tempore,  in  the  Absence  of  the  Vice  President,  or  when  he 
shall  exercise  the  Office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  Power  to  try  all  Impeachments. 
When  sitting  for  that  Purpose,  they  shall  be  on  Oath  or  Affirma 
tion.  When  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried,  the  Chief 
Justice  shall  preside  :  And  no  Person  shall  be  convicted  without 
the  Concurrence  of  two  thirds  of  the  Members  present. 

Judgment  in  Cases  of  Impeachment  shall  not  extend  further 
than  to  removal  from  Office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and 
enjoy  any  Office  of  honor,  Trust  or  Profit  under  the  United 
States  :  but  the  Party  convicted  shall  nevertheless  be  liable  and 
subject  to  Indictment,  Trial,  Judgment  and  Punishment,  according 
to  Law. 

SECTION.  4.  The  Times,  Places  and  Manner  of  holding  Elec 
tions  for  Senators  and  Representatives,  shall  be  prescribed  in  each 
State  by  the  Legislature  thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any 
time  by  Law  make  or  alter  such  Regulations,  except  as  to  the 
Places  of  chusing  Senators. 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  Year,  and 
such  Meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless 
they  shall  by  Law  appoint  a  different  Day. 

SECTION.  5.  Each  House  shall  be  the  Judge  of  the  Elections, 
Returns  and  Qualifications  of  its  own  Members,  and  a  Majority 
of  each  shall  constitute  a  Quorum  to  do  Business ;  but  a  smaller 
Number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to 
compel  the  Attendance  of  absent  Members,  in  such  Manner,  and 
under  such  Penalties  as  each  House  may  provide. 

Each  House  may  determine  the  Rules  of  its  Proceedings,  pun 
ish  its  Members  for  disorderly  Behavior,  and,  with  the  Concurrence 
of  two  thirds,  expel  a  Member. 

Each  House  shall  keep  a  Journal  of  its  Proceedings,  and  from 
time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  Parts  as  may  in 
their  Judgment  require  Secrecy ;  and  the  Yeas  and  Nays  of  the 
Members  of  either  House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  Desire  of 
one  fifth  of  those  present,  be  entered  on  the  Journal. 

Neither  House,  during  the  Session  of  Congress,  shall,  without 
the  Consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor 
to  any  other  Place  than  that  in  which  the  two  Houses  shall  be 
sitting. 

SECTION.  6.     The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive  a 


1 787]  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES  33 

Compensation  for  their  Services,  to  be  ascertained  by  Law,  and 
paid  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  They  shall  in  all 
Cases,  except  Treason,  Felony  and  Breach  of  the  Peace,  be  privi 
leged  from  Arrest  during  their  Attendance  at  the  Session  of  their 
respective  Houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same ; 
and  for  any  Speech  or  Debate  in  either  House,  they  shall  not  be 
questioned  in  any  other  Place. 

No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  Time  for  which 
he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  Office  under  the  Author 
ity  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have  been  created,  or  the 
Emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been  encreased  during  such  time  ; 
and  no  Person  holding  any  Office  under  the  United  States,  shall 
be  a  Member  of  either  House  during  his  Continuance  in  Office. 

SECTION.  7.  All  Bills  for  raising  Revenue  shall  originate  in  the 
House  of  Representatives ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur 
with  Amendments  as  on  other  Bills. 

Every  Bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become  a  Law,  be  presented 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States ;  If  he  approve  he  shall  sign 
it,  but  if  not  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  Objections  to  that  House 
in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  Objections 
at  large  on  their  Journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If  after 
such  Reconsideration  two  thirds  of  that  House  shall  agree  to  pass 
the  Bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  Objections,  to  the  other 
House,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered,  and  if  approved 
by  two  thirds  of  that  House,  it  shall  become  a  Law.  But  in  all 
such  Cases  the  Votes  of  both  Houses  shall  be  determined  by  Yeas 
and  Nays,  and  the  Names  of  the  Persons  voting  for  and  against 
the  Bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  Journal  of  each  House  respec 
tively.  If  any  Bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President  within 
ten  Days  (Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented 
to  him,  the  Same  shall  be  a  law,  in  like  Manner  as  if  he  had  signed 
it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their  Adjournment  prevent  its  Return, 
in  which  Case  it  shall  not  be  a  Law. 

Every  Order,  Resolution,  or  Vote  to  which  the  Concurrence 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary 
(except  on  a  question  of  Adjournment)  shall  be  presented  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States ;  and  before  the  Same  shall  take 
Effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him,  or  being  disapproved  by  him, 
shall  be  repassed  by  two  thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep- 


34  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES        [Sept.  17 

resentatives,  according  to  the  Rules  and  Limitations  prescribed  in 
the  Case  of  a  Bill. 

SECTION.  8.  The  Congress  shall  have  Power  To  lay  and  collect 
Taxes,  Duties,  Imposts  and  Excises,  to  pay  the  Debts  and  pro 
vide  for  the  common  Defence  and  general  Welfare  of  the  United 
States;  but  all  Duties,  Imposts  and  Excises  shall  be  uniform 
throughout  the  United  States  ; 

To  borrow  Money  on  the  Credit  of  the  United  States ; 

To  regulate  Commerce  with  foreign  Nations,  and  among  the 
several  States,  and  with  the  Indian  Tribes ; 

To  establish  an  uniform  Rule  of  Naturalization,  and  uniform 
Laws  on  the  subject  of  Bankruptcies  throughout  the  United 
States ; 

To  coin  Money,  regulate  the  Value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  Coin, 
and  fix  the  Standard  of  Weights  and  Measures ; 

To  provide  for  the  Punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  Securities 
and  current  Coin  of  the  United  States ; 

To  establish  Post  Offices  and  post  Roads ; 

To  promote  the  Progress  of  Science  and  useful  Arts,  by  secur 
ing  for  limited  Times  to. Authors  and  Inventors  the  exclusive  Right 
to  their  respective  Writings  and  Discoveries ; 

To  constitute  Tribunals  inferior  to  the  supreme  Court ; 

To  define  and  Punish  Piracies  and  Felonies  committed  on  the 
high  Seas,  and  Offences  against  the  Law  of  Nations ; 

To  declare  War,  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal,  and 
make  Rules  concerning  Captures  on  Land  and  Water ; 

To  raise  and  support  Armies,  but  no  Appropriation  of  Money 
to  that  Use  shall  be  for  a  longer  Term  than  two  Years ; 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  Navy ; 

To  make  Rules  for  the  Government  and  Regulation  of  the  land 
and  naval  Forces ; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  Militia  to  execute  the  Laws  of 
the  Union,  suppress  Insurrections  and  repel  Invasions ; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining,  the  Militia, 
and  for  governing  such  Part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the 
Service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respectively, 
the  Appointment  of  the  Officers,  and  the  Authority  of  training  the 
Militia  according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress ; 

To  exercise  exclusive  Legislation  in  all  Cases  whatsoever,  over 
such  District  (not  exceeding  ten  Miles  square)  as  may,  by  Cession 


1787]  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  35 

of  particular  States,  and  the  Acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the 
Seat  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  to  exercise  like 
Authority  over  all  Places  purchased  by  the  Consent  of  the  Legis 
lature  of  the  State  in  which  the  Same  shall  be,  for  the  Erection 
of  Forts,  Magazines,  Arsenals,  dock- Yards,  and  other  needful 
Buildings ;  —  And 

To  make  all  Laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for 
carrying  into  Execution  the  foregoing  Powers,  and  all  other 
Powers  vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  any  Department  or  Officer  thereof. 

SECTION.  9.     The  Migration  or  Importation  of  such  Persons  as 
any  of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall 
not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  Year  one  thousand  //<*f 
eight  hundred  and  eight,  but  a  Tax  or  Duty  may  be  imposed  on 
such  Importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  Person. 

The  Privilege  of  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  shall  not  be  sus 
pended,  unless  when  in  Cases  of  Rebellion  or  Invasion  the  public 
Safety  may  require  it. 

No  Bill  of  Attainder  or  expost  facto  Law  shall  be  passed. 

No  Capitation,  or  other  direct,  tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in 
Proportion  to  the  Census  or  Enumeration  herein  before  directed 
to  be  taken. 

No  Tax  or  Duty  shall  be  laid  on  Articles  exported  from  any 
State. 

No  Preference  shall  be  given  by  any  Regulation  of  Commerce 
or  Revenue  to  the  Ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another :  nor 
shall  Vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter, 
clear,  or  pay  Duties  in  another. 

No  Money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury,  but  in  Conse 
quence  of  Appropriations  made  by  Law ;  and  a  regular  Statement 
and  Account  of  the  Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  all  public 
Money  shall  be  published  from  time  to  time. 

No  Title  of  Nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States 
And  no  Person  holding  any  Office  of  Profit  or  Trust  under  them, 
shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  present, 
Emolument,  Office,  or  Title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  King, 
Prince,  or  foreign  State. 

SECTION.  10.  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  Treaty,  Alliance, 
or  Confederation ;  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal ;  coin 
Money  ;  emit  Bills  of  Credit ;  make  any  Thing  but  gold  and  silver 


36*  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES         [Sept.  17 

Coin  a  Tender  in  Payment  of  Debts ;  pass  any  Bill  of  Attainder, 
ex  post  facto  Law,  or  Law  impairing  the  Obligation  of  Contracts, 
or  grant  any  Title  of  Nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any 
Imposts  or  Duties  on  Imports  or  Exports,  except  what  may  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  executing  it's  inspection  Laws  :  and  the 
net  Produce  of  all  Duties  and  Imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on 
Imports  or  Exports,  shall  be  for  the  Use  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States ;  and  all  such  Laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  Revision 
and  Controul  of  the  Congress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  Duty 
of  Tonnage,  keep  Troops,  or  Ships  of  War  in  time  of  Peace,  enter 
into  any  Agreement  or  Compact  with  another  State,  or  with  a 
foreign  Power,  or  engage  in  War,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in 
such  imminent  Danger  as  will  not  admit  of  Delay. 

ARTICLE   II. 

SECTION,  i.  The  executive  Power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President 
of  the  United  States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  Office  during 
the  Term  of  four  Years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice  President, 
chosen  for  the  same  Term,  be  elected,  as  follows 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  Manner  as  the  Legislature 
thereof  may  direct,  a  Number  oLJClectors,  equal  to  the  whole 
Number  of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State  may 
be  entitled  in  the  Congress  :  but  no  Senator  or  Representative,  or 
Person  holding  an  Office  of  Trust  or  Profit  under  the  United 
States,  shall  be  appointed  an  Elector. 

The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  two  Persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an 
Inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves.  And  they  shall 
make  a  List  of  all  the  Persons  voted*  for,  and  of  the  Number  of 
Votes  for  each;  which  List  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  trans 
mit  sealed  to  the  Seat  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.  The  Preside'nt  of  the 
Senate  shall,  in  the  Presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  open  all  the  Certificates,  and  the  Votes  shall  then  be 
counted.  The  Person  having  the  greatest  Number  of  Votes  shall 
be  the  President,  if  such  Number  be  a  Majority  of  the  whole 
Number  of  Electors  appointed ;  and  if  there  be  more  than  one 
who  have  such  Majority  and  have  an  equal  Number  of  Votes,  then 


1787]  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED    STATES  37 

the  House  of  Representatives  shall  immediately  chuse  by  Ballot 
one  of  them  for  President ;  and  if  no  person  have  a  Majority, 
then  from  the  five  highest  on  the  List  the  said  House  shall  in  like 
Manner  chuse  the  President.  But  in  chusing  the  President,  the 
Votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  Representation  from  each  State 
having  one  Vote ;  A  quorum  for  this  Purpose  shall  consist  of  a 
Member  or  Members  from  two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  Majority 
of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  Choice.  In  every  Case, 
after  the  Choice  of  the  President,  the  person  having-  the  greatest 
Number  of  Votes  of  the  Electors  shall  be  the  Vice  President. 
But  if  there  should  remain  two  or  more  who  have  equal  Votes, 
the  Senate  shall  chuse  from  them  by  Ballot  the  Vice-President.* 

The  Congress  may  determine  the  Time  of  chusing  the  Electors, 
and  the  Day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  Votes;  which  Day 
shall  be  the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 

No  Person  except  a  natural  born  Citizen,  or  a  Citizen  of  the 
United  States,  at  the  time  of  the  Adoption  of  this  Constitution, 
shall  be  eligible  to  the  Office  of  President ;  neither  shall  any  Per 
son  be  eligible  to  that  Office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the 
Age  of  thirty  five  Years,  and  been  fourteen  Years  a  Resident 
within  the  United  States. 

In  Case  of  the  Removal  of  the  President  from  Office,  or  of  his 
Death,  Resignation,  or  Inability  to  discharge  the  Powers  and 
Duties  of  the  said  Office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice 
President,  and  the  Congress  may  by  Law  provide  for  the  Case 
of  Removal,  Death,  Resignation,  or  Inability,  both  of  the  Presi 
dent  and  Vice  President,  declaring  what  Officer  shall  then  act  as 
President,  and  such  Officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  Dis 
ability  be  removed,  or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive  for  his  Services,  a 
Compensation,  which  shall  neither  be  encreased  nor  diminished 
during  the  Period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  and  he 
shall  not  receive  within  that  Period  any  other  Emolument  from 
the  United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

Before  he  enter  on  the  Execution  of  his  Office,  he  shall  take 
the  following  Oath  or  Affirmation:  —  "I  'do  solemnly  swear  (or 
"  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  Office  of  President  of 
"  the  United  States,  and  will  to  the  best  of  my  Ability,  preserve, 
"protect  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

*  This  paragraph  was  superseded  by  the  i2th  Article  of  the  amendments.  —  ED. 


38  CONSTITUTION   OF  TPIE  UNITED   STATES        [Sept.  17 

SECTION.  2.  The  President  shall  be  Commander  in  Chief  of 
the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  Militia  of  the 
several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual  Service  of  the  United 
States ;  he  may  require  the  Opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal 
Officer  in  each  of  the  executive  Departments,  upon  any  Subject 
relating  to  the  Duties  of  their  respective  Offices,  and  he  shall  have 
Power  to  grant  Reprieves  and  Pardons  for  Offences  against  the 
United  States,  except  in  Cases  of  Impeachment. 

He  shall  have  Power,  by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of 
the  Senate,  to  make  Treaties,  provided  two  thirds  of  the  Senators 
present  concur ;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the 
Advice  and  Consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  Ambassadors, 
other  public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  Judges  of  the  supreme  Court, 
and  all  other  Officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  Appointments 
are  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  estab 
lished  by  Law :  but  the  Congress  may  by  Law  vest  the  Appoint 
ment  of  such  inferior  Officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in  the  President 
alone,  in  the  Courts  of  Law,  or  in  the  Heads  of  Departments. 

The  President  shall  have  Power  to  fill  up  all  Vacancies  that  may 
happen  during  the  Recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  Commissions 
which  shall  expire  at  the  End  of  their  next  Session. 

SECTION.  3.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress 
Information  of  the  State  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their 
Consideration  such  Measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and 
expedient ;  he  may,  on  extraordinary  Occasions,  convene  both 
Houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in  Case  of  Disagreement  between 
them,  with  Respect  to  the  Time  of  Adjournment,  he  may  adjourn 
them  to  such  Time  as  he  shall  think  proper ;  he  shall  receive 
Ambassadors  and  other  public  Ministers ;  he  shall  take  Care  that 
the  Laws  be  faithfully  executed,  and  shall  Commission  all  the 
Officers  of  the  United  States. 

SECTION.  4.  The  President,  Vice  President  and  all  civil  Officers 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  Office  on  Impeach 
ment  for,  and  Conviction  of,  Treason,  Bribery,  or  other  high 
Crimes  and  Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE   III. 

SECTION,  i.  The  judicial  Power  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
vested  in  one  supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  Courts  as  the 
Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish.  The 


1787]  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  39 

Judges,  both  of  the  supreme  and  inferior  Courts,  shall  hold  their 
Offices  during  good  Behavior,  and  shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive 
for  their  Services,  a  Compensation,  which  shall  not  be  diminished 
during  their  Continuance  in  Office. 

SECTION.  2.  The  judicial  Power  shall  extend  to  all  Cases,  in 
Law  and  Equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  Laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  Treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under 
their  Authority  ;  —  to  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public 
Ministers  and  Consuls  ;  —  to  all  Cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime 
Jurisdiction ;  —  to  Controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall 
be  a  Party;  —  to  Controversies  between  two  or  more  States;  — 
between  a  State  and  Citizens  of  another  State  ;  —  between  Citizens 
of  different  States,  —  between  Citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming 
Lands  under  Grants  of  different  States,  and  between  a  State,  or 
the  Citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  States,  Citizens  or  Subjects. 

In  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public  Ministers  and 
Consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  Party,  the  supreme 
Court  shall  have  original  Jurisdiction.  In  all  the  other  Cases 
before  mentioned,  the  supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  Juris 
diction,  both  as  to  Law  and  Fact,  with  such  Exceptions,  and 
under  such  Regulations  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

The  Trial  of  all  Crimes,  except  in  Cases  of  Impeachment,  shall 
be  by  Jury ;  and  such  Trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the 
said  Crimes  shall  have  been  committed ;  but  when  not  committed 
within  any  State,  the  Trial  shall  be  at  such  Place  or  Places  as  the 
Congress  may  by  Law  have  directed. 

SECTION.  3.  Treason  against  the  United  States,  shall  consist 
only  in  levying  War  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  Ene 
mies,  giving  them  Aid  and  Comfort.  No  Person  shall  be  con 
victed  of  Treason  unless  on  the  Testimony  of  two  Witnesses  to 
the  same  overt  Act,  or  on  Confession  in  open  Court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  declare  the  Punishment 
of  Treason,  but  no  Attainder  of  Treason  shall  work  Corruption 
of  Blood,  or  Forfeiture  except  during  the  Life  of  the  Person 
attainted. 

ARTICLE   IV. 

SECTION,  i.  Full  Faith  and  Credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State 
to  the  public  Acts,  Records,  and  judicial  Proceedings  of  every 
other  State.  And  the  Congress  may  by  general  Laws  prescribe 


40  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES         [Sept.  17 

the  Manner  in  which  such  Acts,  Records  and  Proceedings  shall 
be  proved,  and  the  Effect  thereof. 

SECTION.  2.  The  Citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all 
Privileges  and  Immunities  of  Citizens  in  the  several  States. 

A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  Treason,  Felony,  or  other 
Crime,  who  shall  flee  from  Justice,  and  be  found  in  another  State, 
shall  on  Demand  of  the  executive  Authority  of  the  State  from 
which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up  to  be  removed  to  the  State  having 
Jurisdiction  of  the  Crime. 

No  Person  held  to  Service  or  Labour  in  one  State,  under  the 
Laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  Consequence  of  any 
Law  or  Regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  Service  or 
Labour,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  Claim  of  the  Party  to  whom 
such  Service  or  Labour  may  be  due. 

SECTION.  3.  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into 
this  Union  ;  but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within 
the  Jurisdiction  of  any  other  State  ;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by 
the  Junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  Parts  of  States,  without  the 
Consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  concerned  as  well  as  of 
the  Congress. 

The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all 
needful  Rules  and  Regulations  respecting  the  Territory  or  other 
Property  belonging  to  the  United  States ;  and  nothing  in  this 
Constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  Prejudice  any  Claims  of 
the  United  States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

SECTION.  4.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State 
in  this  Union  a  Republican  Form  of  Government,  and  shall  pro 
tect  each  of  them  against  Invasion ;  and  on  Application  of  the 
Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive  (when  the  Legislature  cannot  be 
convened)  against  domestic  Violence. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two  thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem 
it  necessary,  shall  propose  Amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or, 
on  the  Application  of  the  Legislatures  of  two  thirds  of  the  several 
States,  shall  call  a  Convention  for  proposing  Amendments,  which, 
in  either  Case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  Intents  and  Purposes,  as  Part 
of  this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three 
fourths  of  the  several  States,  or  by  Conventions  in  three  fourths 
thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other  Mode  of  Ratification  may  be  pro- 


1787]  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES  41 

posed  by  tli e  Congress;  Provided  that  no  Amendment  which  may 
be  made  prior  to  the  Year  One  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight 
shall  in  any  Manner  affect  the  first  and  fourth  Clauses  in  the  Ninth 
Section  of  the  first  Article  ;  and  that  no  State,  without  its  Consent, 
shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal  Suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE   VI. 

All  Debts  contracted  and  Engagements  entered  into,  before  the 
Adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United 
States  under  this  Constitution,  as  under  the  Confederation. 

This  Constitution,  and  the  Laws  of  the  United  States  which 
shall  be  made  in  Pursuance  thereof;  and  all  Treaties  made,  or 
which  shall  be  made,  under  the  Authority  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  the  supreme  Law  of  the  Land ;  and  the  Judges  in  every 
State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  any  Thing  in  the  Constitution  or 
Laws  of  any  State  to  the  Contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  Senators  and  Representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the 
Members  of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and 
judicial  Officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several 
States,  shall  be  bound  by  Oath  or  Affirmation,  to  support  this 
Constitution ;  but  no  religious  Test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a 
Qualification  to  any  Office  or  public  Trust  under  the  United 
States.  — 

ARTICLE  VII. 

The  Ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  States,  shall  be 
sufficient  for  the  Establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the 
States  so  ratifying  the  Same. 

DONE  in  Convention  by  the  Unanimous  Consent  of  the  States 
present  the  Seventeenth  Day  of  September  in  the  Year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  Eighty  seven  and 
of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the 
Twelfth  In  Witness  whereof  We  have  hereunto  subscribed 
our  Names, 

G9    WASHINGTON  — 
Presidt,  and  Deputy  from  Virginia* 

*  The  remaining  signatures  are  omitted.  —  ED. 


42  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES          [Sept.  17 


ARTICLES   IN   ADDITION  TO,   AND  AMENDMENT  OF, 
THE   CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE  I. 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of 
religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the 
freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press ;  or  the  right  of  the  people 
peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the  Government  for  a 
redress  of  grievances. 

ARTICLE  II. 

A  well  regulated  Militia,  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a 
free  State,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  Arms,  shall 
not  be  infringed. 

ARTICLE  III. 

No  Soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace  be  quartered  in  any  house, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Owner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a 
manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

.ARTICLE  IV. 

The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses, 
papers,  and  effects,' against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures, 
shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  Warrants  shall  issue,  but  upon  prob 
able  cause,  supported  by  Oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly 
describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things 
to  be  seized. 

ARTICLE  V. 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise 
infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  Grand 
Jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the 
Militia,  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  War  or  in  public  danger ; 
nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence  to  be  twice 
put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb ;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any 
Criminal  Case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of 
life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law ;  nor  shall 
private  property  be  taken  for  public  use,  without  just  compensation. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right 
to  a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and 


1787]  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  43 

district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  dis 
trict  shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be 
informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  to  be  con 
fronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him ;  to  have  compulsory  process 
for  obtaining  Witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the  Assistance 
of  Counsel  for  his  defence. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall 
exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved, 
and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any 
Court  of  the  United  States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
common  law. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed, 
nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall  not 
be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 

ARTICLE  X. 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitu 
tion,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively,  or  to  the  people.* 

ARTICLE  XI. 

The  Judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed 
to  extend  to  any  suitjn  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted 
against  one  of  the  United  States  by  Citizens  of  another  State,  or 
by  Citizens  or  Subjects  of  any  Foreign  State.f 

ARTICLE  XII. 

The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  states,  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom,  at  least, 
shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  state  with  themselves  j  they 
shall  name  in  their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and 
in  distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  they 
shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and 

*  The  first  ten  amendments  went  into  effect  Nov.  3,  1791.  — ED. 
f  In  effect  Jan.  8,  1798.  — ED. 


44  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES        [Sept.  17 

of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  of  the  number  of 
votes  for  each,  which  lists  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit 
sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed 
to  the  President  of  the  Senate;  —  The  President  of  the  Senate 
shall,  in  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
open  all  the  certificates  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted ;  — 
The  person  having*  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  President, 
shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  of  Electors  appointed ;  and  if  no  person  have  such  ma 
jority,  then  from  the  persons  having  the  highest  numbers  not 
exceeding  three  on  the  list  of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the 
President.  But  in  choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken 
by  states,  the  representation  from  each  state  having  one  vote  ;  a 
quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members 
from  two-thirds  of  the  states,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  states  shall 
be  necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if  the  House  of  Representatives 
shall  not  choose  a  President  whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall 
devolve  upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day  of  March  next  following, 
then  the  Vice-President  shall  act  as  President,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  death  or  other  constitutional  disability  of  the  President.  The 
person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  as  Vice-President, 
shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the 
whole  number  of  Electors  appointed,  and  if  no  person  have  .a 
majority,  then  from  the  two  highest  numbers  on  the  list,  the  Senate 
shall  choose  the  Vice-President ;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall 
consist  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a 
majority  of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  But 
no  person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President  shall 
be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.* 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

SECTION  i.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except 
as  a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly 
convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject 
to  their  jurisdiction. 

SECTION  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article 
by  appropriate  legislation.! 

*  In  effect  Sept.  25,  1804.  — ED. 
t  In  effect  Dec.  18,  1865.— ED. 


1787]  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES  45 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

SECTION  i.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States,  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State 
shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges 
or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  nor  shall  any  State 
deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process 
of  law ;  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal 
protection  of  the  laws. 

SECTION  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the 
whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed.  But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  the  choice 
of  electors  for  President  and  Vice  President  of  the  United  States, 
Representatives  in  Congress,  the  Executive  and  Judicial  officers 
of  a  State,  or  the  members  of  the  Legislature  thereof,  is  denied 
to  any  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  States,  being  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way 
abridged,  except  for  participation  in  rebellion,  or  other  crime,  the 
basis  of  representation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  propor 
tion  which  the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the 
whole  number  of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such 
State. 

SECTION  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative  in 
Congress,  or  elector  of  President  and  Vice  President,  or  hold  any 
office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States,  or  under  any 
State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath,  as  a  member  of  Con 
gress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of 
any  State  legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any 
State,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have 
engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid 
or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof.  But  Congress  may  by  a  vote 
of  two-thirds  of  each  House,  remove  such  disability. 

SECTION  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States, 
authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pen 
sions  and  bounties  for  services  in  suppressing  insurrection  or 
rebellion,  shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  United  States 
nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred 
in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or 


46  FIRST  REPORT  ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  [Jan.  9 

any  claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave ;  but  all  such 
debts,  obligations  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

SECTION  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by 
appropriate  legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article.* 

ARTICLE  XV. 

SECTION  i.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by 
any  State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude. 

SECTION  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this 
article  by  appropriate  legislation.! 


No.  6.     Hamilton's  First  Report  on  Public 
Credit 

January  g,  1790 

AUGUST  28,  1789,  a  memorial  of  certain  public  creditors  of  Pennsylvania 
was  presented  in  the  House,  "  praying  the  aid  and  interposition  of  Congress 
on  behalf  of  the  public  creditors,  by  a  permanent  appropriation  of  adequate 
funds  for  the  punctual  payment  of  the  interest  of  the  public  debt,  or  by  the 
adoption  of  such  other  means  as,  in  the  wisdom  of  Congress,  shall  be  best 
calculated  to  promote  the  public  welfare,  and  render  justice  to  the  individuals 
who  are  interested."  The  memorial  was  referred  to  a  committee,  of  which 
Madison  was  chairman,  which  reported  on  the  loth  in  favor  of  deferring  action 
until  the  next  session.  On  the  2ist,  after  consideration  of  the  report,  it  was 
resolved  "that  this  House  consider  an  adequate  provision  for  the  support  of  the 
public  credit,  as  a  matter  of  high  importance  to  the  national  honor  and  pros 
perity,"  and  "  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be  directed  to  prepare  a  plan 
for  that  purpose,  and  to  report  the  same  to  this  House  at  its  next  meeting." 
January  14,  1790,  the  report  on  public  credit,  extracts  from  which  follow,  was 
sent  in.  The  report  was  taken  up  Feb.  8,  and  considered  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole  House  until  March  29,  when  eight  resolutions,  agreed  to  in  committee, 
were  reported.  The  first  three  resolutions,  recommending  payment  of  the 
foreign  debt,  together  with  principal  and  interest  of  the  domestic  debt,  were 
agreed  to;  the  fourth,  in  favor  of  the  assumption  of  the  State  debts,  was,  by  a 
vote  of  29  to  27,  recommitted ;  and  the  remaining  resolutions  were  laid  on 
the  table.  On  the  joth,  the  la'st  four  resolutions  were  also  recommitted.  Con 
sideration  of  the  report  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  was  resumed,  and 
April  26,  by  a  vote  of  32  to  18,  the  committee  was  discharged  "  for  the  present " 

*  In  effect  July  28,  1868.  —  ED.  f  In  effect  March  30,  1870.  —  ED. 


1790]  FIRST  REPORT  ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  47 

from  further  consideration  of  so  much  of  the  report  as  related  to  assumption. 
The  opposition  to  assumption  which  had,  by  this  time,  developed,  strengthened 
by  the  arrival  of  members  from  North  Carolina,  bid  fair  to  defeat  the  scheme. 
In  the  meantime,  the  plan  for  the  location  of  the  national  capital  had  met 
with  difficulty,  owing  to  the  rival  interests  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia. 
Hamilton  made  use  of  Jefferson's  influence  to  arrange  a  compromise,  by  which, 
in  return  for  votes  in  favor  of  assumption,  the  capital  was  to  be  located  at 
Philadelphia  for  ten  years,  and  thereafter  permanently  on  the  Potomac. 
Acts  of  Aug.  4,  10,  and  12,  1790,  provided  for  the  settlement  of  the  public 
debt,  and  for  increased  duties  on  imports,  substantially  as  suggested  by 
Hamilton. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Finance,  I.,  15-25.  For  the 
proceedings  of  the  House,  see  the  Journal,  ist  Cong.,  ist  and  2d  Sess.;  for 
the  discussions,  see  the  Annals  of  Congress,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  I.  The 
memorial  presented  Aug.  28  is  in  the  Annals ;  for  resolutions  and  memorials 
against  the  act  of  Aug.  4,  1790,  see  Amer.  State  Papers,  Finance,  I.,  76-81, 
90,  91.  A  contemporary  view  of  the  funding  system  is  in  Carey's  Amer. 
Museum,  VI.,  91-98.  On  Hamilton's  financial  policy  in  general,  see  Lodge's 
Hamilton,  chaps.  5,  6.  See  also  McMaster's  United  States,  I.,  567-584; 
Hildreth's  United  States,  I.,  152-219;  Von  Hoist's  United  Stales,  I.,  83-94; 
Bolles's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  II.,  chaps.  3,  4;  Hamilton's 
Works  (ed.  1851),  V.,  454-459;  Jefferson's  Works  (ed.  1854),  IX.,  91-96; 
Madison's  Writings  (ed.  1865),  I.,  490-496,  501,  507-522. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

January  9,  1790. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  obedience  to  the  resolution 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  twenty-first  day  of  Septem 
ber  last,  has,  during  the  recess  of  Congress,  applied  himself  to  the 
consideration  of  a  proper  plan  for  the  support  of  the  public 
credit,  with  all  the  attention  which  was  due  to  the  authority  of 
the  House,  and  to  the  magnitude  of  the  object. 

In  the  discharge  of  this  duty,  he  has  felt,  in  no  small  degree, 
the  anxieties  which  naturally  flow  from  a  just  estimate  of  the 
difficulty  of  the  task,  from  a  well  founded  diffidence  of  his  own 
qualifications  for  executing  it  with  success,  and  from  a  deep  and 
solemn  conviction  of  the  momentous  nature  of  the  truth  contained 
in  the  resolution  under  which  his  investigations  have  been  con 
ducted,  "  That  an  adequate  provision  for  the  support  of  the  public 
credit  is  a  matter  of  high  importance  to  the  honor  and  prosperity 
of  the  United  States."  .  .  . 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Secretary,  the  wisdom  of  the  House,  in 
giving  their  explicit  sanction  to  the  proposition  which  has  been 
stated,  cannot  but  be  applauded  by  all  who  will  seriously  consider 


48  FIRST   REPORT   ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  [Jan.  9 

and  trace,  through  their  obvious  consequences,  these  plain  and 
undeniable  truths  : 

That  exigencies  are  to  be  expected  to  occur,  in  the  affairs  of 
nations,  in  which  there  will  be  a  necessity  for  borrowing ; 

That  loans  in  times  of  public  danger,  especially  from  foreign 
war,  are  found  an  indispensable  resource,  even  to  the  wealthiest 
of  them ; 

And  that,  in  a  country  which,  like  this,  is  possessed  of  little 
active  wealth,  or,  in  other  words,  little  moneyed  capital,  the  neces 
sity  for  that  resource  must,  in  such  emergencies,  be  proportionably 
urgent. 

And  as,  on  the  one  hand,  the  necessity  for  borrowing,  in  par 
ticular  emergencies,  cannot  be  doubted ;  so,  on  the  other,  it  is 
equally  evident,  that,  to  be  able  to  borrow  upon  good  terms, 
it  is  essential  that  the  credit  of  a  nation  should  be  well  estab 
lished.  .  .  . 

If  the  maintenance  of  public  credit,  then,  be  truly  so  important, 
the  next  inquiry  which  suggests  itself  is,  By  what  means  it  is  to  be 
effected  ?  The  ready  answer  to  which  question  is,  by  good  faith ; 
by  a  punctual  performance  of  contracts.  States,  like  individuals, 
who  observe  their  engagements,  are  respected  and  trusted, 
while  the  reverse  is  the  fate  of  those  who  pursue  an  opposite 
conduct.  .  .  . 

While  the  observance  of  that  good  faith,  which  is  the  basis  of 
public  credit,  is  recommended  by  the  strongest  inducements  of 
political  expediency,  it  is  enforced  by  considerations  of  still  greater 
authority.  There  are  arguments  for  it  which  rest  on  the  immutable 
principles  of  moral  obligation.  And  in  proportion  as  the  mind  is 
disposed  to  contemplate,  in  the  order  of  Providence,  an  intimate 
connexion  between  public  virtue  and  public  happiness,  will  be  its 
repugnancy  to  a  violation  of  those  principles. 

This  reflection  derives  additional  strength  from  the  nature  of 
the  debt  of  the  United  States.  It  was  the  price  of  liberty.  The 
faith  of  America  has  been  repeatedly  pledged  for  it,  and  with 
solemnities  that  give  peculiar  force  to  the  obligation.  There  is, 
indeed,  reason  to  regret  that  it  has  not  hitherto  been  kept ;  that 
the  necessities  of  the  war,  conspiring  with  inexperience,  in  the 
subjects  of  finance,  produced  direct  infractions  ;  and  that  the  sub 
sequent  period  has  been  a  continued  scene  of  negative  violation, 
or  non-compliance.  But  a  diminution  of  this  regret  arises  from 


1790]  FIRST   REPORT  ON   PUBLIC   CREDIT  49 

the  reflection)  that  the  last  seven  years  have  exhibited  an  earnest 
and  uniform  effort,  on  the  part  of  the  Government  of  the  Union, 
to  retrieve  the  national  credit,  by  doing  justice  to  the  creditors 
of  the  nation ;  and  that  the  embarrassments  of  a  defective  consti 
tution,  which  defeated  this  laudable  effort,  have  ceased. 

From  this  evidence  of  a  favorable  disposition  given  by  the 
former  Government,  the  institution  of  a  new  one,  clothed  with 
powers  competent  to  calling  forth  the  resources  of  the  community, 
has  excited  correspondent  expectations.  A  general  belief  accord 
ingly  prevails,  that  the  credit  of  the  United  States  will  quickly  be 
established  on  the  firm  foundation  of  an  effectual  provision  for  the 
existing  debt.  The  influence  which  this  has  had  at  home,  is 
witnessed  by  the  rapid  increase  that  has  taken  place  in  the  market 
value  of  the  public  securities.  From  January  to  November,  they 
rose  thirty-three  and  a  third  per  cent.  ;  and  from  that  period  to 
this  time,  they  have  risen  fifty  per  cent,  more ;  and  the  intelli 
gence  from  abroad  announces  effects  proportionably  favorable  to 
our  national  credit  and  consequence. 

It  cannot  but  merit  particular  attention,  that,  among  ourselves, 
the  most  enlightened  friends  of  good  government  are  those  whose 
expectations  are  the  highest. 

To  justify  and  preserve  their  confidence ;  to  promote  the 
increasing  respectability  of  the  American  name ;  to  answer  the 
calls  of  justice ;  to  restore  landed  property  to  its  due  value ;  to 
furnish  new  resources,  both  to  agriculture  and  commerce ;  to 
cement  more  closely  the  union  of  the  States ;  to  add  to  their 
security  against  foreign  attack ;  to  establish  public  order  on  the 
basis  of  an  upright  and  liberal  policy ;  —  these  are  the  great  and 
invaluable  ends  to  be  secured  by  a  proper  and  adequate  provision, 
at  the  present  period,  for  the  support  of  public  credit.  .  .  . 

The  advantage  to  the  public  creditors,  from  the  increased  value 
of  that  part  of  their  property  which  constitutes  the  public  debt, 
needs  no  explanation. 

But  there  is  a  consequence  of  this,  less  obvious,  though  not  less 
true,  in  which  every  other  citizen  is  interested.  It  is  a  well  known 
fact,  that,  in  countries  in  which  the  national  debt  is  properly 
funded,  and  an  object  of  established  confidence,  it  answers  most 
of  the  purposes  of  money.  Transfers  of  stock  or  public  debt,  are 
there  equivalent  to  payments  in  specie ;  or,  in  other  words,  stock, 
in  the  principal  transactions  of  business,  passes  current  as  specie. 


50  FIRST  REPORT  ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  [Jan.  9 

The  same  thing  would,  in  all  probability,  happen  here  under  the 
like  circumstances.  .  .  . 

It  ought  not,  however,  to  be  expected,  that  the  advantages 
described  as  likely  to  result  from  funding  the  public  debt,  would 
be  instantaneous.  It  might  require  some  time  to  bring  the  value 
of  stock  to  its  natural  level,  and  to  attach  to  it  that  fixed  con 
fidence,  which  is  necessary  to  its  quality  as  money.  Yet  the  late 
rapid  rise  of  the  public  securities  encourages  an  expectation  that 
the  progress  of  stock,  to  the  desirable  point,  will  be  much  more 
expeditious  than  could  have  been  foreseen.  And  as,  in  the  mean 
time,  it  will  be  increasing  in  value,  there  is  room  to  conclude  that 
it  will,  from  the  outset,  answer  many  of  the  purposes  in  contempla 
tion.  Particularly,  it  seems  to  be  probable,  that  from  creditors, 
who  are  not  themselves  necessitous,  it  will  early  meet  with  a  ready 
reception  in  payment  of  debts,  at  its  current  price. 

Having  now  taken  a  concise  view  of  the  inducements  to  a 
proper  provision  for  the  public  debt,  the  next  inquiry  which  pre 
sents  itself  is,  What  ought  to  be  the  nature  of  such  a  provision? 
This  requires  some  preliminary  discussions. 

It  is  agreed  on  all  hands,  that  that  part  of  the  debt  which  has 
been  contracted  abroad,  and  is  denominated  the  foreign  debt, 
ought  to  be  provided  for  according  to  the  precise  terms  of  the 
contracts  relating  to  it.  The  discussions  which  can  arise,  there 
fore,  will  have  reference  essentially  to  the  domestic  part  of  it,  or 
to  that  which  has  been  contracted  at  home.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  there  is  not  the  same  unanimity  of  sentiment  on  this  part  as 
on  the  other. 

The  Secretary  has  too  much  deference  for  the  opinions  of  every 
part  of  the  community,  not  to  have  observed  one,  which  has  more 
than  once  made  its  appearance  in  the  public  prints,  and  which  is 
occasionally  to  be  met  with  in  conversation.  It  involves  this 
question  :  Whether  a  discrimination  ought  not  to  be  made  between 
original  holders  of  the  public  securities,  and  present  possessors, 
by  purchase?  Those  who  advocate  a  discrimination,  are  for 
making  a  full  provision  for  the  securities  of  the  former  at  their 
nominal  value ;  but  contend  that  the  latter  ought  to  receive  no 
more  than  the  cost  to  them,  and  the  interest.  And  the  idea  is 
sometimes  suggested,  of  making  good  the  difference  to  the  primi 
tive  possessor. 

In  favor  of  this  scheme,  it  is  alleged,  that  it  would  be  unreason- 


1790]  FIRST   REPORT  ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  51 

able  to  pay  twenty  shillings  in  the  pound,  to  one  who  had  not 
given  more  for  it  than  three  or  four.  And  it  is  added,  that  it 
would  be  hard  to  aggravate  the  misfortune  of  the  first  owner,  who, 
probably,  through  necessity,  parted  with  his  property  at  so  great  a 
loss,  by  obliging  him  to  contribute  to  the  profit  of  the  person  who 
had  speculated  on  his  distresses. 

The  Secretary,  after  the  most  mature  reflection  on  the  force  of 
this  argument,  is  induced  to  reject  the  doctrine  it  contains,  as 
equally  unjust  and  impolitic ;  as  highly  injurious,  even  to  the 
original  holders  of  public  securities  ;  as  ruinous  to  public  credit. 

It  is  inconsistent  with  justice,  because,  in  the  first  place,  it 
is  a  breach  of  contract  —  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  a  fair 
purchaser. 

The  nature  of  the  contract,  in  its  origin,  is,  that  the  public  will 
pay  the  sum  expressed  in  the  security,  to  the  first  holder  or  his 
assignee.  The  intent  in  making  the  security  assignable,  is,  that 
the  proprietor  may  be  able  to  make  use  of  his  property,  by  selling 
it  for  as  much  as  it  may  be  worth  in  the  market,  and  that  the 
buyer  may  be  safe  in  the  purchase. 

Every  buyer,  therefore,  stands  exactly  in  the  place  of  the  seller ; 
has  the  same  right  with  him  to  the  identical  sum  expressed  in 
the  security;  and,  having  acquired  that  right,  by  fair  purchase, 
and  in  conformity  to  the  original  agreement  and  intention  of  the 
Government,  his  claim  cannot  be  disputed,  without  manifest  in 
justice.  .  .  . 

The  impolicy  of  a  discrimination  results  from  two  considera 
tions  :  One,  that  it  proceeds  upon  a  principle  destructive  of  that 
quality  of  the  public  debt,  or  the  stock  of  the  nation,  which  is 
essential  to  its  capacity  for  answering  the  purposes  of  money, 
that  is,  the  security  of  transfer;  the  other,  that,  as  well  on  this 
account  as  because  it  includes  a  breach  of  faith,  it  renders  prop 
erty,  in  the  funds,  less  valuable,  consequently,  induces  lenders  to 
demand  a  higher  premium  for  what  they  lend,  and  produces  every 
other  inconvenience  of  a  bad  state  of  public  credit. 

It  will  be  perceived,  at  first  sight,  that  the  transferable  quality 
of  stock  is  essential  to  its  operation  as  money,  and  that  this 
depends  on  the  idea  of  complete  security  to  the  transferee,  and  a 
firm  persuasion,  that  no  distinction  can,  in  any  circumstances,  be 
made  between  him  and  the  original  proprietor. 

The  precedent  of  an  invasion  of  this  fundamental  principle, 


52  FIRST   REPORT   ON   PUBLIC   CREDIT  [Jan.  9 

would,  of  course,  tend  to  deprive  the  community  of  an  advantage 
with  which  no  temporary  saving  could  bear  the  least  compari 
son. 

And  it  will  as  readily  be  perceived  that  the  same  cause  would 
operate  a  diminution  of  the  value  of  stock  in  the  hands  of  the  first 
as  well  as  of  every  other  holder.  The  price  which  any  man  who 
should  incline  to  purchase,  would  be  willing  to  give  for  it,  would 
be  in  a  compound  ratio  to  the  immediate  profit  it  afforded,  and 
the  chance  of  the  continuance  of  his  profit.  If  there  was  supposed 
to  be  any  hazard  of  the  latter,  the  risk  would  be  taken  into  the 
calculation,  and  either  there  would  be  no  purchase  at  all,  or  it 
would  be  at  a  proportionably  less  price.  .  .  . 

But  there  is  still  a  point  in  view,  in  which  it  will  appear  per 
haps  even  more  exceptionable  than  in  either  of  the  former.  It 
would  be  repugnant  to  an  express  provision  of  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States.  This  provision  is,  that  "all  debts  contracted, 
and  engagements  entered  into,  before  the  adoption  of  that  con 
stitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United  States  under  it,  as 
under  the  Confederation;"  which  amounts  to  a  constitutional 
ratification  of  the  contracts  respecting  the  debt,  in  the  state  in 
which  they  existed  under  the  confederation.  And,  resorting  to 
that  standard,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  rights  of  assignees 
and  original  holders  must  be  considered  as  equal.  .  .  . 

The  Secretary,  concluding  that  a  discrimination  between  the 
different  classes  of  creditors  of  the  United  States  cannot,  with 
propriety,  be  made,  proceeds  to  examine  whether  a  difference 
ought  to  be  permitted  to  remain  between  them  and  another 
description  of  public  creditors  —  those  of  the  States,  individually. 
The  Secretary,  after  mature  reflection  on  this  point,  entertains  a 
full  conviction,  that  an  assumption  of  the  debts  of  the  particular 
States  by  the  Union,  and  a  like  provision  for  them,  as  for  those 
of  the  Union,  will  be  a  measure  of  sound  policy  and  substantial 
justice.  .  .  . 

There  are  several  reasons,  which  render  it  probable  that  the 
situation  of  the  State  creditors  would  be  worse  than  that  of  the 
creditors  of  the  Union,  if  there  be  not  a  national  assumption  of 
the  State  debts.  Of  these  it  will  be  sufficient  to  mention  two: 
one,  that  a  principal  branch  of  revenue  is  exclusively  vested  in  the 
Union ;  the  other,  that  a  State  must  always  be  checked  in  the 
imposition  of  taxes  on  articles  of  consumption,  from  the  want  of 


I790]  FIRST   REPORT  ON   PUBLIC   CREDIT  53 

power  to  extend  the  same  regulation  to  the  other  States,  and  from 
the  tendency  of  partial  duties  to  injure  its  industry  and  commerce. 
Should  the  State  creditors  stand  upon  a  less  eligible  footing  than 
the  others,  it  is  unnatural  to  expect  they  would  see  with  pleasure 
a  provision  for  them.  The  influence  which  their  dissatisfaction 
might  have,  could  not  but  operate  injuriously,  both  for  the  cred 
itors  and  the  credit  of  the  United  States.  Hence  it  is  even  the 
interest  of  the  creditors  of  the  Union,  that  those  of  the  individual 
States  should  be  comprehended  in  a  general  provision.  Any 
attempt  to  secure  to  the  former  either  exclusive  or  peculiar  advan 
tages,  would  materially  hazard  their  interests.  Neither  would  it 
be  just,  that  one  class  of  public  creditors  should  be  more  favored 
than  the  other.  The  objects  for  which  both  descriptions  of  the 
debt  were  contracted,  are  in  the  main  the  same.  Indeed,  a  great 
part  of  the  particular  debts  of  the  States  has  arisen  from  assump 
tions  by  them  on  account  of  the  Union.  And  it  is  most  equitable, 
that  there  should  be  the  same  measure  of  retribution  for  all. 
There  is  an  objection,  however,  to  an  assumption  of  the  State 
debts,  which  deserves  particular  notice.  It  may  be  supposed,  that 
it  would  increase  the  difficulty  of  an  equitable  settlement  between 
them  and  the  United  States. 

The  principles  of  that  settlement,  whenever  they  shall  be  dis 
cussed,  will  require  all  the  moderation  and  wisdom  of  the  Govern 
ment.  In  the  opinion  of  the  Secretary,  that  discussion,  till  further 
lights  are  obtained,  would  be  premature.  All,  therefore,  which  he 
would  now  think  advisable  on  the  point  in  question,  would  be, 
that  the  amount  of  the  debts  assumed  and  provided  for,  should 
be  charged  to  the  respective  States,  to  abide  an  eventual  arrange 
ment.  This,  the  United  States,  as  assignees  to  the  creditors, 
would  have  an  indisputable  right  to  do.  .  .  . 

There  is  good  reason  to  conclude,  that  the  impressions  of  many 
are  more  favorable  to  the  claim  of  the  principal,  than  to  that  of 
the  interest ;  at  least  so  far  as  to  produce  an  opinion,  that  an 
inferior  provision  might  suffice  for  the  latter. 

But,  to  the  Secretary,  this  opinion  does  not  appear  to  be  well 
founded.  His  investigations  of  the  subject  have  led  him  to  a  con 
clusion,  that  the  arrears  of  interest  have  pretensions  at  least  equal 
to  the  principal.  .  .  . 

The  result  of  the  foregoing  discussions  is  this  :  That  there  ought 
to  be  no  discrimination  between  the  original  holders  of  the  debt, 


54  FIRST   REPORT  ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  [Jan.  9 

and  present  possessors  by  purchase.  That  it  is  expedient  there 
should  be  an  assumption  of  the  State  debts  by  the  Union,  and 
that  the  arrears  of  interest  should  be  provided  for  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  principal. 

The  next  inquiry,  in  order,  towards  determining  the  nature  of 
a  proper  provision,  respects  the  quantum  of  the  debt,  and  the 
present  rates  of  interest. 

The  debt  of  the  Union  is  distinguishable  into  foreign  and 
domestic. 

The    foreign    debt,  as    stated   in    schedule    B, 

amounts  to,  principal,          ....    $10,070,307  oo 
Bearing   an   interest   of  four,    and   partly  an 

interest  of  five  per  cent. 
Arrears  of  interest   to   the    last  of  December, 

1789 1,640,071   62 

Making,  together       .         .         .    $11,710,378  62 


The   domestic   debt  may  be  subdivided  into 
liquidated  and  unliquidated ;  principal  and 
interest. 
The  principal  of  the  liquidated  part,  as  stated 

in  the  schedule  C,  amounts  to     .         .         .    $27,383,917  74 
Bearing  an  interest  of  six  per  cent. 
The  arrears  of  interest,  as  stated  in  the  sched 
ule  D,  to  the  end  of  1790,  amount  to  .         .      13,030,168  20 

Making,  together      .         .         .    $40,414,085  94 

The  unliquidated  part  of  the  domestic  debt,  which  consists 
chiefly  of  the  continental  bills  of  credit,  is  not  ascertained,  but 
may  be  estimated  at  2,000,000  dollars. 

These  several  sums  constitute  the  whole  of  the  debt  of  the 
United  States,  amounting  together  to  $54,124,464  56.  That  of 
the  individual  States  is  not  equally  well  ascertained.  .  .  .  The 
Secretary,  however,  presumes  that  the  total  amount  may  be  safely 
stated  at  twenty-five  millions  of  dollars,  principal  and  interest.  .  .  . 

On  the  supposition  that  the  arrears  of  interest  ought  to  be  pro 
vided  for  on  the  same  terms  with  the  principal,  the  annual  amount 
of  the  interest,  which,  at  the  existing  rates,  would  be  payable  on 
the  entire  mass  of  the  public  debt,  would  be  — 


1790]  FIRST   REPORT  ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  55 

On  the  foreign  debt,  computing  the  interest  on  the 
principal,  as  it  stands,  and  allowing  four  per 
cent,  on  the  arrears  of  interest,  .  .  $54-2,599  66 

On  the  domestic  debt,  including  that  of  the  States,     4,044,845   15 

Making,  together,       .         .         .    $4,587,444  81 


The  interesting  problem  now  occurs  :  Is  it  in  the  power  of  the 
United  States,  consistently  with  those  prudential  considerations 
which  ought  not  to  be  overlooked,  to  make  a  provision  equal  to 
the  purpose  of  funding  the  whole  debt,  at  the  rates  of  interest 
which  it  now  bears,  in  addition  to  the  sum  which  will  be  neces 
sary  for  the  current  service  of  the  Government  ? 

The  Secretary  will  not  say  that  such  a  provision  would  exceed 
the  abilities  of  the  country ;  but  he  is  clearly  of  opinion  that,  to 
make  it,  would  require  the  extension  of  taxation  to  a  degree,  and 
to  objects,  which  the  true  interest  of  the  public  creditors  forbids. 
It  is  therefore  to  be  hoped,  and  even  to  be  expected,  that  they 
will  cheerfully  concur  in  such  modifications  of  their  claims,  on 
fair  and  equitable  principles,  as  will  facilitate  to  the  Govern 
ment  an  arrangement  substantial,  durable,  and  satisfactory  to  the 
community.  .  .  . 

Probabilities  are  always  a  rational  ground  of  contract.  The 
Secretary  conceives,  that  there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  if  effectual 
measures  are  taken  to  establish  public  credit,  that  the  Government 
rate  of  interest  in  the  United  States  will,  in  a  very  short  time,  fall 
at  least  as  low  as  five  per  cent. ;  and  that,  in  a  period  not  exceed 
ing  twenty  years,  it  will  sink  still  lower,  probably  to  four.  There 
are  two  principal  causes  which  will  be  likely  to  produce  this 
effect ;  one,  the  low  rate  of  interest  in  Europe ;  the  other,  the 
increase  of  the  moneyed  capital  of  the  nation,  by  the  funding  of 
the  public  debt.  .  .  . 

Premising  these  things,  the  Secretary  submits  to  the  House 
the  expediency  of  proposing  a  loan,  to  the  full  amount  of  the 
debt,  as  well  of  the  particular  States  as  of  the  Union,  upon  the 
following  terms  : 

First.  That,  for  every  hundred  dollars  subscribed,  payable  in 
the  debt,  (as  well  interest  as  principal)  the  subscriber  be  entitled, 
at  his  option,  either  to  have  two-thirds  funded  at  an  annuity  or 
yearly  interest  of  six  per  cent.,  redeemable  at  the  pleasure  of  the 


56  FIRST   REPORT   ON   PUBLIC   CREDIT  [Jan.  9 

Government,  by  payment  of  the  principal,  and  to  receive  the 
other  third  in  lands  in  the  western  territory,  at  the  rate  of  twenty 
cents  per  acre ;  or,  to  have  the  whole  sum  funded  at  an  annuity 
or  yearly  interest  of  four  per  cent.,  irredeemable  by  any  payment 
exceeding  five  dollars  per  annum,  on  account  both  of  principal 
and  interest,  and  to  receive,  as  a  compensation  for  the  reduction 
of  interest,  fifteen  dollars  and  eighty  cents,  payable  in  lands,  as  in 
the  preceding  case ;  or,  to  have  sixty-six  dollars  and  two-thirds  of 
a  dollar  funded  immediately,  at  an  annuity  or  yearly  interest  of 
six  per  cent.,  irredeemable  by  any  payment  exceeding  four  dollars 
and  two-thirds  of  a  dollar  per  annum,  on  account  both  of  principal 
and  interest,  and  to  have,  at  the  end  of  ten  years,  twenty-six 
dollars  and  eighty-eight  cents  funded  at  the  like  interest  and  rate 
of  redemption ;  or,  to  have  an  annuity,  for  the  remainder  of  life, 
upon  the  contingency  of  fixing  to  a  given  age,  not  less  distant 
than  ten  years,  computing  interest  at  four  per  cent. ;  or,  to  have 
an  annuity,  for  the  remainder  of  life,  upon  the  contingency  of  the 
survivership  of  the  youngest  of  two  persons,  computing  interest  in 
this  case  also  at  four  per  cent. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  loan,  payable  wholly  in  the  debt, 
the  Secretary  would  propose  that  one  should  be  opened  for  ten 
millions  of  dollars,  on  the  following  plan  : 

That,  for  every  hundred  dollars  subscribed,  payable  one  half  in 
specie,  and  the  other  half  in  debt,  (as  well  principal  as  interest) 
the  subscriber  be  entitled  to  an  annuity  or  yearly  interest  of  five 
per  cent.,  irredeemable  by  any  payment  exceeding  six  dollars  per 
annum,  on  account  both  of  principal  and  interest.  [The  details 
of  these  various  plans  are  then  discussed  at  length.] 

In  order  to  keep  up  a  due  circulation  of  money,  it  will  be 
expedient  that  the  interest  of  the  debt  should  be  paid  quarter- 
yearly.  .  .  . 

The  remaining  part  of  the  task  to  be  performed  is  to  take  a 
view  of  the  means  of  providing  for  the  debt,  according  to  the 
modification  of  it  which  is  proposed.  .  .  . 

...  to  pay  the  interest  of  the  foreign  debt,  and  to  pay  four  per 
cent,  on  the  whole  of  the  domestic  debt,  principal  and  interest, 
forming  a  new  capital,  will  require  a  yearly  income  of  $2,239,163,09 
—  the  sum  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Secretary,  ought 
now  to  be  provided,  in  addition  to  what  the  current  service  will 
require.  .  .  . 


1790]  FIRST   REPORT  ON   PUBLIC   CREDIT  57 

With  regard  to  the  instalments  of  the  foreign  debt,  these,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Secretary,  ought  to  be  paid  by  new  loans  abroad. 
Could  funds  be  conveniently  spared  from  other  exigencies,  for 
paying  them,  the  United  States  could  illy  bear  the  drain  of  cash, 
at  the  present  juncture,  which  the  measure  would  be  likely  to 
occasion. 

But  to  the  sum  which  has  been  stated  for  payment  of  the 
interest,  must  be  added  a  provision  for  the  current  service.  This 
the  Secretary  estimates  at  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  making, 
with  the  amount  of  the  interest,  two  millions  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty- three  dollars  and  nine 
cents. 

This  sum  may,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Secretary,  be  obtained 
from  the  present  duties  on  imports  and  tonnage,  with  the  addi 
tions  which,  without  any  possible  disadvantage,  either  to  trade  or 
agriculture,  may  be  made  on  wines,  spirits,  (including  those  dis 
tilled  within  the  United  States)  teas  and  coffee.  [A  discussion  of 
this  point,  with  a  detailed  statement  of  the  proposed  duties, 
follows.] 

The  Secretary  now  proceeds,  in  the  last  place,  to  offer  to  the 
consideration  of  the  House  his  ideas  of  the  steps  which  ought,  at 
the  present  session,  to  be  taken  towards  the  assumption  of  the 
State  debts. 

These  are,  briefly,  that  concurrent  resolutions  of  the  two  Houses, 
with  the  approbation  of  the  President,  be  entered  into,  declaring, 
in  substance  — 

That  the  United  States  do  assume,  and  will,  at  the  first  session 
in  the  year  1791,  provide,  on  the  same  terms  with  the  present 
debt  of  the  United  States,  for  all  such  part  of  the  debts  of  the 
respective  States,  or  any  of  them,  as  shall,  prior  to  the  first  day  of 
January,  in  the  said  year,  1791,  be  subscribed  towards  a  loan  to 
the  United  States,  upon  the  principles  of  either  of  the  plans, 
which  shall  have  been  adopted  by  them,  for  obtaining  a  reloan 
of  their  present  debt. 

Provided,  that  the  provision  to  be  made,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be 
suspended,  with  respect  to  the  debt  of  any  State  which  may  have 
exchanged  the  securities  of  the  United  States  for  others  issued 
by  itself,  until  the  whole  of  the  said  securities  shall  either  be 
re- exchanged  or  surrendered  to  the  United  States. 

And  provided,  also,  that  the  interest  upon  the  debt  assumed, 


58  SLAVERY   MEMORIALS  [March  23 

be  computed  to  the  end  of  the  year  1791  ;  and  that  the  interest 
to  be  paid  by  the  United  States,  commence  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  1792. 

That  the  amount  of  the  debt  of  each  State,  so  assumed  and 
provided  for,  be  charged  to  such  State  in  account  with  the  United 
States,  upon  the  same  principles  upon  which  it  shall  be  lent  to  the 
United  States. 

That  subscriptions  be  opened  for  receiving  loans  of  the  said 
debts,  at  the  same  times  and  places,  and  under  the  like  regula 
tions,  as  shall  have  been  prescribed  in  relation  to  the  debt  of  the 
United  States.  . 


No.  7.     Report  on  Slavery  Memorials 

March  23,   1790 

FEBRUARY  n,  1790,  certain  memorials  adopted  by  the  Quakers  in  1789  at 
their  annual  meetings  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York  were  presented  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  "  praying  the  attention  of  Congress  in  adopting  meas 
ures  for  the  abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade;  and,  in  particular,  in  restraining  ves 
sels  frorft  being  entered  and  cleared  out  for  the  purposes  of  that  trade."  The 
next  day  a  memorial  to  the  same  effect  from  the  Pennsylvania  Society  for 
Promoting  the  Abolition  of  Slavery,  signed  by  Benjamin  Franklin  as  presi 
dent,  was  also  presented.  After  heated  discussion  the  memorials,  by  vote  of 
43  to  II,  were  referred  to  a  special  committee,  which  reported  March  5;  on 
the  8th  the  report  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House,  where 
it  was  debated  from  the  i6th  to  the  23d,  when,  by  vote  of  26  to  25,  several 
amendments  suggested  in  committee  were  considered  by  the  House,  and, 
finally,  the  reports  of  the  special  committee  and  of  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole  House  were,  by  vote  of  29  to  25,  ordered  to  be  printed  in  the  journal 
and  to  lie  on  the  table.  The  principles  laid  down  in  the  report  formed  the 
basis  of  the  action  of  Congress  for  many  years  in  regard  to  slavery. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  of  both  reports  in  the  House  Journal,  ist  Cong., 
2d  Sess. ;  the  report  of  the  special  committee  is  also  in  the  Annals  of  Congress, 
ist  Cong.,  II.,  1414,  1415}  and  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  I.,  12. 
Full  reports  of  discussions  are  in  the  Annals  ;  condensed  in  Benton's  Abridg 
ment,  I.  See  also  Von  Hoist's  United  States,  I.,  89-94;  Parton's  Franklin, 
II.,  606-614;  Wilson's  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power,  L,  61-67. 

REPORT  OF  THE  SPECIAL  COMMITTEE. 

THE  committee  to  whom  were  referred  sundry  memorials  from 
the  People  called  Quakers ;  and  also,  a  memorial  from  the  Penn- 


1790]  SLAVERY    MEMORIALS  59 

sylvania  Society  for  promoting  the  Abolition  of  Slavery,  submit 
the  following  report : 

That,  from  the  nature  of  the  matters  contained  in  those  memo 
rials,  they  were  induced  to  examine  the  powers  vested  in  Con 
gress,  under  the  present  Constitution,  relating  to  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  and  are  clearly  of  opinion, 

First.  That  the  General  Government  is  expressly  restrained 
from  prohibiting  the  importation  of  such  persons  "as  any  of  the 
States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  until  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight." 

Secondly.  That  Congress,  by  a  fair  construction  of  the  Consti 
tution,  are  equally  restrained  from  interfering  in  the  emancipa 
tion  of  slaves,  who  already  are,  or  who  may,  within  the  period 
mentioned  be,  imported  into,  or  born  within  any  of  the  said 
States. 

Thirdly.  That  Congress  have  no  authority  to  interfere  in  the 
internal  regulations  of  particular  States,  relative  to  the  instruction 
of  slaves  in  the  principles  of  morality  and  religion  ;  to  their  com 
fortable  clotj^ML  accommodations,  and  subsistence ;  to  the  regu 
lation  of  th^Jfrarriages,  and  the  prevention  of  the  violation  of 
the  rights  thereof,  or  to  the  separation  of  children  from  their 
parents ;  to  a  comfortable  provision  in  cases  of  sickness,  age,  or 
infirmity  ;  or  to  the  seizure,  transportation,  or  sale,  of  free  negroes ; 
but  have  the  fullest  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  humanity  of 
the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  that  they  will  revise  their 
laws  from  time  to  time,  when  necessary,  and  promote  the  objects 
mentioned  in  the  memorials,  and  every  other  measure  that  may 
tend  to  the  happiness  of  slaves. 

Fourthly.  That,  nevertheless,  Congress  have  authority,  if  they 
shall  think  it  necessary,  to  lay  at  any  time  a  tax  or  duty,  not 
exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person  of  any  description,  the 
importation  of  whom  shall  be  by  any  of  the  States  admitted  as 
aforesaid. 

Fifthly.  That  Congress  have  authority  to  interdict,  or  (so  far 
as  it  is  or  may  be  carried  on  by  citizens  of  the  United  States,  for 
supplying  foreigners)  to  regulate  the  African  trade,  and  to  make 
provision  for  the  humane  treatment  of  Slaves,  in  all  cases  while 
on  their  passage  to  the  United  States,  or  to  foreign  ports,  as  far  as 
it  respects  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

Sixthly.     That  Congress  have  also  authority  to  prohibit  for- 


60  SLAVERY   MEMORIALS  [March  23 

eigners  from  fitting  out  vessels,  in  any  port  of  the  United  States, 
for  transporting  persons  from  Africa  to  any  foreign  port. 

Seventhly.  That  the  memorialists  be  informed,  that  in  all  cases 
to  which  the  authority  of  Congress  extends,  they  will  exercise  it 
for  the  humane  objects  of  the  memorialists,  so  far  as  they  can  be 
promoted  on  the  principles  of  justice,  humanity,  and  good  policy. 

REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  WHOLE  HOUSE. 

THE  Committee  of  the  Whole  House,  to  whom  was  committed 
the  report  of  the  committee  on  the  memorials  of  the  People  called 
Quakers,  and  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society  for  promoting  the  Abo 
lition  of  Slavery,  report  the  following  amendments  : 

Strike  out  the  first  clause,  together  with  the  recital  thereto,  and 
in  lieu  thereof,  insert,  "  That  the  migration  or  importation  of  such 
persons  as  any  of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to 
admit,  cannot  be  prohibited  by  Congress,  prior  to  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight." 

Strike  out  the  second  and  third  clauses,  and  in  lieu  thereof 
insert,  "  That  Congress  have  no  authority  to  interfere  in  the 
emancipation  of  slaves,  or  in  the  treatment  of  tr^^fcithin  any  of 
the  States ;  it  remaining  with  the  several  States  sSme  to  provide 
any  regulations  therein,  which  humanity  and  true  policy  may 
require." 

Strike  out  the  fourth  and  fifth  clauses,  and  in  lieu  thereof  insert, 
"That  Congress  have  authority  to  restrain  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  from  carrying  on  the  African  trade,  for  the  purpose 
of  supplying  foreigners  with  slaves,  and  of  providing  by  proper 
regulations  for  the  humane  treatment,  during  their  passage,  of 
slaves  imported  by  the  said  citizens  into  the  States  admitting  such 
importation." 

Strike  out  the  seventh  clause. 

Ordered,  that  the  said  report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Whole 
House  do  lie  on  the  table. 


1790]  SECOND   REPORT  ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  6 1 

No.  8.     Hamilton's  Second  Report  on   Public 

Credit 

December  13,  1790 

IN  his  report  of  Jan.  9,  1790,  Hamilton  had  recommended  additional 
duties  on  distilled  spirits,  including  those  produced  in  the  United  States;  but 
a  bill  embodying  this  suggestion  had  been  rejected  by  the  House  June  21,  by 
a  vote  of  23  to  35.  An  estimated  deficit  of  about  $825,000  had,  however,  to 
be  provided  for.  August  9,  three  days  before  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  a 
resolution  passed  the  House  directing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  report, 
on  the  second  Monday  of  December,  "  such  further  provisions  as  may,  in  his 
opinion,  be  necessary  for  establishing  the  public  credit."  The  first  fruit  of 
this  resolution  was  the  report  submitted  Dec.  13,  recommending  certain  im 
port  and  excise  duties  on  distilled  spirits.  Consideration  of  the  report  began 
Dec.  27;  on  the  3Oth  a  bill  imposing  additional  duties  was  brought  in,  and 
Jan.  27,  1791,  passed  the  House  by  a  vote  of  35  to  21.  Amendments  by  the 
Senate  being  disagreed  to  by  the  House,  the  bill  received  its  final  form  from  a 
conference  committee;  M^bh  3  the  act  was  approved. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Finance,  I.,  64-67.  For  the 
proceedings  in^ie  House,  see  the  Journal,  ist  Cong.,  3d  Sess.;  for  the 
debates,  see  ^^^^tinals,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  I.  The  discussions  in 
the  Senate  ar^^Hreported.  The  act  of  March  3,  1791,  is  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at 
Large,  I.,  219-^1.  Hamilton's  report  of  March  5,  1792,  on  difficulties 
attending  the  execution  of  the  act,  is  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Finance,  I.,  151- 
158.  See  further,  Madison's  Writings  (ed.  1865),  I.,  527-530;  Johnston,  in- 
Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  III.,  Iio8-mo. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

December  13,  1790. 

In  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  of 
the  ninth  day  of  August  last,  requiring  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  prepare  and  report,  on  this  day,  such  further  pro 
vision  as  may,  in  his  opinion,  be  necessary  for  establishing  the 
public  credit,  the  said  Secretary  respectfully  reports  : 
That  the  object  which  appears  to  be  most  immediately  essen 
tial  to  the  further  support  of  public  credit,  in  pursuance  of  the 
plan  adopted  during  the  last  session  of  Congress,  is  the  establish 
ment  of  proper  and  sufficient  funds  for  paying  the  interest  which 
will  begin  to  accrue  after  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  ninety-one,  on  the  amount  of  the  debts  of  the  several  States, 
assumed  by  the  United  States,  having  regard  at  the  same  time  to 
the  probable  or  estimated  deficiency  in  those  already  established, 
as  they  respect  the  original  debt  of  the  Union. 


62  SECOND   REPORT   ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  [Dec.  13 

In  order  to  this,  it  is  necessary,  in  the  first  place,  to  take  a 
view  of  the  sums  requisite  for  those  purposes. 

The  amount  which   has  been  assumed,  of  the 

State  debts,  is $21,500,000  oo 

The  sum  of  annual  interest  upon  that  amount, 

which,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  proposed 

loan,  will  begin  to  accrue  after  the  year  one 

thousand  seven  hundred  and  nirrety  one,  is  .  $788,333  33 
The  estimated  deficiency  in  the  funds  already 

established,  as  they  respect  the  original  debt 

of  the  United  States,  is 38,291  40 

Making,  together  826,624  73 

For  procuring  which  sum,  the  reiterated  reflections  of  the  Secre 
tary  have  suggested  nothing  so  eligible  and  unexceptionable,  in 
his  judgment,  as  a  further  duty  on  foreifh  distilled  spirits,  and 
a  duty  on  spirits  distilled  within  the  United  States,  to  be  collected 
in  the  mode  delineated  in  the  plan  of  a  bill*  wh^j^jorms  part  of 
his  report  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  of  I  ^ftnth  day  of 
January  last. 

Under  this  impression,  he  begs  leave,  with  all  deference,  to 
propose  to  the  consideration  of  the  House  — 

That  the  following  additions  be  made  to  the  duties  on  distilled 
spirits  imported  from  foreign  countries,  which  are  specified  in  the 
act  making  further  provision  for  the  payment  of  the  debts  of  the 
United  States,  namely :  [A  detailed  statement  of  the  proposed 
duties  follows.] 

The  product  of  these  several  duties  (which  correspond  in  their 
rates  with  those  proposed  in  the  report  above  referred  to,  of  the 
ninth  of  January  last)  may,  upon  as  good  grounds  as  the  nature 
of  the  case  will  admit,  prior  to  an  experiment,  be  computed  at 
eight  hundred  and  seventy-seven  thousand  and  five  hundred  dol 
lars,  the  particulars  of  which  computation  are  contained  in  the 
statement  which  accompanies  this  report. 

This  computed  product  exceeds  the  sum  which  has  been  stated 
as  necessary  to  be  provided,  by  fifty  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-five  dollars  and  twenty  seven  cents ;  an  excess  which,  if 
it  should  be  realized  by  the  actual  product,  may  be  beneficially 
applied  towards  increasing  the  sinking  fund. 


1790]  SECOND   REPORT  ON  PUBLIC  CREDIT  63 

The  Secretary  has  been  encouraged  to  renew  the  proposition  of 
these  duties,  in  the  same  form  in  which  they  were  before  submit 
ted,*  from  a  belief,  founded  on  circumstances  which  appeared  in 
the  different  discussions  on  the  subject,  that  collateral  considera 
tions,  which  were  afterwards  obviated,  rather  than  objections  to 
the  measure  itself,  prevented  its  adoption,  during  the  last  session ; 
from  the  impracticability,  which  he  conceives  to  exist,  of  devising 
any  substitute  equally  conducive  to  the  ease  and  interest  of  the 
community ;  and  from  an  opinion  that  the  extension  of  the  plan 
of  collection,  which  it  contemplates,  to  the  duties  already  imposed 
on  wines  and  distilled  spirits,  is  necessary  to  a  well  grounded  re 
liance  on  their  efficacy  and  productiveness. 

The  expediency  of  improving  the  resource  of  distilled  spirits, 
as  an  article  of  revenue,  to  the  greatest  practicable  extent,  had 
been  noticed  upon  another  occasion.  Various  considerations 
might  be  added  to  those  then  adduced,  to  evince  it,  but  they  are 
too  obvious  to  justify  the  detail.  There  is  scarcely  an  attitude  in 
which  the  object  can  present  itself,  which  does  not  invite,  by  all 
the  inducenuJihpf  sound  policy  and  public  good,  to  take  a  strong 
and  effectuauhojuj  of  it. 

The  mannSrof  doing  it,  or,  in  other  words,  the  mode  of  col 
lection,  appears  to  be  the  only  point  about  which  a  difficulty  or 
question  can  arise.  .  .  . 

The  Secretary,  however,  begs  leave  to  remark,  that  there  appear 
to  him  two  leading  principles,  one  or  the  other  of  which  must 
necessarily  characterise  whatever  plan  may  be  adopted.  One  of 
them  makes  the  security  of  the  revenue  to  depend  chiefly  upon 
the  vigilance  of  the  public  officers ;  the  other  rests  it  essentially 
on  the  integrity  of  the  individuals  interested  to  avoid  the  payment 
of  it. 

The  first  is  the  basis  of  the  plan  submitted  by  the  Secretary ; 
the  last  has  pervaded  most,  if  not  all  the  systems,  which  have 
been  hitherto  practised  upon,  in  different  parts  of  the  United  States. 
The  oaths  of  the  dealers  have  been  almost  the  only  security  for 
their  compliance  with  the  laws. 

It  cannot  be  too  much  lamented,  that  these  have  been  found 
inadequate  dependence.  But  experience  has,  on  every  trial, 
manifested  them  to  be  such.  Taxes  or  duties,  relying  for  their 
collection  on  that  security,  wholly,  or  almost  wholly,  are  uniformly 

*  In  the  report  on  public  credit,  Jan.  9,  1790.  —  ED. 


64  SECOND   REPORT   ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  [Dec.  13 

unproductive.  And  they  cannot  fail  to  be  unequal,  'as  long  as 
men  continue  to  be  discriminated  by  unequal  portions  of  recti 
tude.  The  most  conscientious  will  pay  most ;  the  least  con 
scientious,  least.  .  .  . 

It  may  not  be  improper  further  to  remark,  that  the  two  great 
objections  to  the  class  of  duties  denominated  excises,  are  in 
applicable  to  the  plan  suggested.  These  objections  are,  first,  the 
summary  jurisdiction  confided  to  the  officers  of  excise,  in  deroga 
tion  from  the  course  of  the  common  law,  and  the  right  of  trial 
by  jury ;  and,  secondly,  the  general  power  vested  in  the  same 
officers,  of  visiting  and  searching,  indiscriminately,  the  houses, 
stores,  and  other  buildings,  of  the  dealers  in  excised  articles. 
But,  by  the  plan  proposed,  the  officers  to  be  employed  are  to  be 
clothed  with  no  such  summary  jurisdiction,  and  their  discretionary 
power  of  visiting  and  searching,  is  to  be  restricted  to  those  places 
which  the  dealers  themselves  shall  designate,  by  public  insignia 
or  marks,  as  the  depositories  of  the  articles  on  which  the  duties 
are  to  be  laid.  Hence,  it  is  one  of  the  recommendations  of  the 
plan,  that  it  is  not  liable  to  those  objections.  jf^ 

Duties  of  the  kind  proposed  are  not  novel  in^iefimted  States 
as  has  been  intimated  in  another  place.  Theynave  existed,  to 
a  considerable  extent,  under  several  of  the  State  Governments, 
particularly  in  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Pennsylvania.  In 
Connecticut,  a  State  exemplary  for  its  attachment  to  popular  prin 
ciples,  not  only  all  ardent  spirits,  but  foreign  articles  of  con 
sumption,  generally,  have  been  the  subjects  of  an  excise  or  in 
land  duty. 

If  the  supposition,  that  duties  of  this  kind  are  attended  with 
greater  expense  in  the  collection,  than  taxes  on  lands,  should 
seem  an  argument  for  preferring  the  latter,  it  may  be  observed 
that  the  fact  ought  not  too  readily  to  be  taken  for  granted.  The 
state  of  things  in  England,  is  sometimes  referred  to  as  an  example 
on  this  point,  but,  there,  the  smallness  of  the  expense  in  the  col 
lection  of  the  land  tax,  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  peculiar  modifica 
tion  of  it,  which,  proceeding  without  new  assessments,  according 
to  a  fixed  standard,  long  since  adjusted,  totally  disregards  the 
comparative  value  of  lands,  and  the  variations  in  their  value.  The 
consequence  of  this  is,  an  inequality  so  palpable  and  extreme, 
as  would  be  likely  to  be  ill  relished  by  the  landholders  of  the 
United  States.  If,  in  pursuit  of  greater  equality,  accurate  peri- 


1790]  SECOND   REPORT  ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  65 

odical  valuations  or  assessments  are  to  afford  a  rule,  it  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  the  expense  of  a  land  tax  will  not  always 
exceed  that  of  the  kind  of  duties  proposed.  .  .  . 

Among  other  substantial  reasons  which  recommend,  as  a  pro 
vision  for  the  public  debt,  duties  upon  articles  of  consumption,  in 
preference  to  taxes  on  houses  and  lands,  is  this  :  It  is  very  desir 
able,  if  practicable,  to  reserve  the  latter  fund  for  objects  and 
occasions  which  will  more  immediately  interest  the  sensibility  of 
the  whole  community,  and  more  directly  affect  the  public  safety. 
It  will  be  a  consolatory  reflection,  that  so  capital  a  resource  re 
mains  untouched  by  their  provision,  which,  while  it  will  have  a 
very  material  influence  in  favor  of  public  credit,  will,  also,  be 
conducive  to  the  tranquillity  of  the  public  mind,  in  respect  to 
external  danger,  and  will  really  operate  as  .a  powerful  guarantee 
of  peace.  .  .  . 

But,  in  order  to  be  at  liberty  to  pursue  this  salutary  course, 
it  is  indispensable  that  an  efficacious  use  should  be  made  of  those 
articles  of  consumption  which  are  the  most  proper  and  the  most 
productive,  to  which  class  distilled  spirits  very  evidently  belong ; 
and  a  prudent  energy  will  be  requisite,  as  well  in  relation  to  the 
mode  of  collection,  as  to  the  quantum  of  the  duty. 

It  need  scarcely  be  observed,  that  the  duties  on  the  great  mass 
of  imported  articles  have  reached  a  point  which  it  would  not  be 
expedient  to  exceed.  There  is  at  least  satisfactory  evidence  that 
they  cannot  be  extended  further,  without  contravening  the  sense 
of  the  body  of  the  merchants ;  and,  though  it  is  not  to  be  ad 
mitted  as  a  general  rule,  that  this  circumstance  ought  to  conclude 
against  the  expediency  of  a  public  measure,  yet,  when  due  regard 
is  had  to  the  disposition  which  that  enlightened  class  of  our  citi 
zens  has  manifested  towards  the  National  Government  .  .  .  there 
will  be  perceived  to  exist  the  most  solid  reasons  against  lightly 
passing  the  bounds  which  coincide  with  their  impressions  of  what 
is  reasonable  and  proper.  It  would  be,  in  every  view,  inauspicious 
to  give  occasion  for  a  supposition  that  trade  alone  is  destined  to 
feel  the  immediate  weight  of  the  hands  of  Government,  in  every 
new  emergency  of  the  treasury. 

However  true,  as  a  general  position,  that  the  consumer  pays 
the  duty,  yet,  it  will  not  follow,  that  trade  may  not  be  essentially 
distressed  and  injured,  by  carrying  duties  on  importation  to  a 
height  which  is  disproportionate  to  the  mercantile  capital  of  the 


66  SECOND   REPORT  ON   PUBLIC  CREDIT  [Dec.  13 

country.  It  may  not  only  be  the  cause  of  diverting  too  large 
a  share  of  it  from  the  exigencies  of  business,  but,  as  the  requisite 
advances  to  satisfy  the  duties,  will,  in  many,  if  not  in  most  cases, 
precede  the  receipts  from  the  sale  of  the  articles  on  which  they 
are  laid,  the  consequence  will  often  be  sacrifices  which  the  mer 
chant  cannot  afford  to  make. 

The  inconveniences  of  exceeding  the  proper  limit,  in  this  re 
spect,  which  will  be  felt  every  where,  will  fall  with  particular 
severity  on  those  places  which  have  not  the  advantage  of  public 
banks,  and  which  abound  least  in  pecuniary  resources.  Appear 
ances  do  not  justify  such  an  estimate  of  the  extent  of  the  mer 
cantile  capital  of  the  United  States  as  to  encourage  to  material 
accumulations  on  the  already  considerable  rates  of  the  duties  on 
the  mass  of  foreign  importation.  .  .  . 

A  diversification  of  the  nature  of  the  funds  is  desirable  on  other 
accounts.  It  is  clear  that  less  dependence  can  be  placed  on  one 
species  of  funds,  and  that,  too,  liable  to  the  vicissitude  of  the 
continuance,  or  interruption  of  foreign  intercourse,  than  upon  a 
variety  of  different  funds,  formed  by  the  union  of  internal  with 
external  objects. 

The  inference,  from  .these  various  and  important  considerations 
seems  to  be,  that  the  attempt  to  extract  wholly,  from  duties  on 
imported  articles,  the  sum  necessary  to  a  complete  provision  for 
the  public  debt,  would  probably  be  both  deceptive  and  pernicious 
—  incompatible  with  the  interests  not  less  of  revenue  than  of  com 
merce  ;  that  resources  of  a  different  kind  must,  of  necessity,  be 
explored ;  and  the  selection  of  the  most  fit  objects  is  the  only 
thing  which  ought  to  occupy  the  inquiry.  .  .  . 

To  these  more  direct  expedients  for  the  support  of  public 
credit,  the  institution  of  a  national  bank  presents  itself,  as  a  neces 
sary  auxiliary.  This  the  Secretary  regards  as  an  indispensable 
engine  in  the  administration  of  the  finances.  To  present  this 
important  object  in  a  more  distinct  and  more  comprehensive 
light,  he  has  concluded  to  make  it  the  subject  of  a  separate 
Report.  .  .  . 


1790]  REPORT  ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  6/ 

No.  9.     Hamilton's  Report  on  a  National 
Bank 

December  13,   1790 

HAMILTON'S  report  on  a  national  bank  formed  the  second  part  of  the  plan 
for  the  settlement  of  the  revenue  elaborated  by  him  in  response  to  the  House 
resolution  of  Aug.  9,  1790  (see  note  to  No.  8).  The  report  was  laid  before 
the  House  Dec.  14,  and  on  the  23d  was  transmitted  by  that  body  to  the 
Senate.  The  Senate  referred  it  to  a  special  committee,  who  brought  in  a  bill 
Jan.  3  "to  incorporate  the  subscribers  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States";  on 
the  2Oth  the  bill  passed  the  Senate.  The  House  took  up  the  bill  Feb.  I,  and 
passed  it  on  the  8th,  by  a  vote  of  39  to  20.  The  bill  was  not  presented  to  the 
President  until  Feb.  14;  on  the  25th  the  act  was  approved. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Finance,  I.,  67-76.  For  the 
proceedings,  see  the  House  and  Senate  Journals,  1st  Cong.,  3d  Sess.;  for  the 
discussions  in  the  House,  see  the  Annals,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  I.  Debates 
in  the  Senate  are  not  reported.  The  act  of  Feb.  25  is  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large, 
I.,  191—196.  Various  reports  relating  to  the  early  operations  of  the  bank  are 
collected  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Finance,  I.  See  also  Randall's  Jefferson,  I., 
chap.  15;  McMaster's  United  States,  II.,  28-41;  Madison's  Writings  (ed. 
1865),  I.,  525,  528-530,  535;  Bolles's  Financial  Hist,  of  the  United  States, 
II.,  chap.  7;  White's  Money  and  Banking,  bk.  II.,  chap.  4. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

December  I3th,  1790. 

In  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
of  the  ninth  day  of  August  last,  requiring  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  prepare  and  report,  on  this  day,  such  further  pro 
vision  as  may,  in  his  opinion,  be  necessary  for  establishing  the 
public  credit,  the  said  Secretary  further  respectfully  reports  : 

That,  from  a  conviction  (as  suggested  in  his  report  *  herewith 
presented)  that  a  National  Bank  is  an  institution  of  primary  im 
portance  to  the  prosperous  administration  of  the  finances,  and 
would  be  of  the  greatest  utility  in  the  operations  connected  with 
the  support  of  the  public  credit,  his  attention  has  been  drawn  to 
devising  the  plan  of  such  an  institution,  upon  a  scale  which  will 
entitle  it  to  the  confidence,  and  be  likely  to  render  it  equal  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  public.  ... 

It  is  a  fact,  well  understood,  that  public  banks  have  found  ad 
mission  and  patronage  among  the  principal  and  most  enlightened 
commercial  nations.  They  have  successively  obtained  in  Italy, 

*  Second  report  on  public  credit.  —  ED. 


68  REPORT  ON   A  NATIONAL  BANK  [Dec.  13 

Germany,  Holland,  England,  and  France,  as  well  as  in  the  United 
States.  And  it  is  a  circumstance  which  cannot  but  have  con 
siderable  weight,  in  a  candid  estimate  of  their  tendency,  that, 
after  an  experience  of  centuries,  there  exists  not  a  question  about 
their  utility  in  the  countries  in  which  they  have  been  so  long 
established.  Theorists  and  men  of  business  unite  in  the  acknow 
ledgment  of  it.  ... 

The  following  are  among  the  principal  advantages  of  a  bank  : 

First.  The  augmentation  of  the  active  or  productive  capital  of 
a  country.  Gold  and  silver,  where  they  are  employed  merely  as 
the  instruments  of  exchange  and  alienation,  have  been  not  im 
properly  denominated  dead  stock ;  but  when  deposited  in  banks, 
to  become  the  basis  of  a  paper  circulation,  which  takes  their 
character  and  place,  as  the  signs  or  representatives  of  value,  they 
then  acquire  life,  or,  in  other  words,  an  active  and  productive 
quality.  .  .  . 

Secondly.  Greater  facility  to  the  Government,  in  obtaining 
pecuniary  aids,  especially  in  sudden  emergencies.  .  .  . 

Thirdly.   The  facilitating  of  the  payment  of  taxes.  .  .  . 

It  would  be  to  intrude  too  much  on  the  patience  of  the  House, 
to  prolong  the  details  of  the  advantages  of  banks ;  especially,  as 
all  those  which  might  still  be  particularized,  are  readily  to  be 
inferred  as  consequences  from  those  which  have  been  enumerated. 
Their  disadvantages,  real  or  supposed,  are  now  to  be  reviewed. 
The  most  serious  of  the  charges  which  have  been  brought  against 
them,  are : 

That  they  serve  to  increase  usury ; 

That  they  tend  to  prevent  other  kinds  of  lending ; 

That  they  furnish  temptations  to  overtrading ; 

That  they  afford  aid  to  ignorant  adventurers,  who  disturb  the 
natural  and  beneficial  course  of  trade  ; 

That  they  give  to  bankrupt  and  fraudulent  traders,  a  fictitious 
credit,  which  enables  them  to  maintain  false  appearances,  and  to 
extend  their  impositions ;  and,  lastly, 

That  they  have  a  tendency  to  banish  gold  and  silver  from  the 
country. 

There  is  great  reason  to  believe,  that,  on  a  close  and  candid 
survey,  it  will  be  discovered  that  these  charges  are  either  destitute 
of  foundation,  or  that,  as  far  as  the  evils  they  suggest  have  been 
found  to  exist,  they  have  proceeded  from  other,  or  partial,  or 


1790]  REPORT  ON   A  NATIONAL  BANK  69 

temporary  causes,  are  not  inherent  in  the  nature  and  permanent 
tendency  of  such  institutions,  or  are  more  than  counterbalanced 
by  opposite  advantages.  [The  various  objections  are  then  taken 
up  in  order,  and  considered  at  length.] 

These  several  views  of  the  subject  appear  sufficient  to  impress 
a  full  conviction  of  the  utility  of  banks,  and  to  demonstrate  that 
they  are  of  great  importance,  not  only  in  relation  to  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  finances,  but  in  the  general  system  of  the  political 
economy. 

The  judgment  of  many  concerning  them,  has,  no  doubt,  been 
perplexed  by  the  misinterpretation  of  appearances  which  were  to 
be  ascribed  to  other  causes.  The  general  devastation  of  personal 
property,  occasioned  by  the  late  war,  naturally  produced,  on  the 
one  hand,  a  great  demand  for  money,  and,  on  the  other,  a  great 
deficiency  of  it  to  answer  the  demand.  Some  injudicious  laws, 
which  grew  out  of  the  public  distresses,  by  impairing  confidence, 
and  causing  a  part  of  the  inadequate  sum  in  the  country  to  be 
locked  up,  aggravated  the  evil.  The  dissipated  habits  contracted 
by  many  individuals  during  the  war,  which,  after  the  peace,  plunged 
them  into  expenses  beyond  their  incomes  ;  the  number  of  advent 
urers  without  capital,  and,  in  many  instances,  without  informa 
tion,  who  at  that  epoch  rushed  into  trade,  and  were  obliged  to 
make  any  ^sacrifices  to  support  a  transient  credit ;  the  employ 
ment  of  considerable  sums  in  speculations  upon  the  public  debt, 
which,  from  its  unsettled  state,  was  incapable  of  becoming  itself 
a  substitute  :  all  these  circumstances  concurring,  necessarily  led 
to  usurious  borrowing,  produced  most  of  the  inconveniences,  and 
were  the  true  causes  of  most  of  the  appearances,  which,  where 
banks  were  established,  have  been  by  some  erroneously  placed  to 
their  account  —  a  mistake  which  they  might  easily  have  avoided  by 
turning  their  eyes  towards  places  where  there  were  none,  and  where, 
nevertheless,  the  same  evils  would  have  been  perceived  to  exist, 
even  in  a  greater  degree  than  where  those  institutions  had  obtained. 

These  evils  have  either  ceased,  or  been  greatly  mitigated. 
Their  more  complete  extinction  may  be  looked  for  from  that 
additional  security  to  property  which  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  happily  gives ;  (a  circumstance  of  prodigious  mo 
ment  in  the  scale,  both  of  public  and  private  prosperity)  from  the 
attraction  of  foreign  capital,  under  the  auspices  of  that  security,  to 
be  employed  upon  objects,  and  in  enterprises,  for  which  the  state 


7O  REPORT  ON  A  NATIONAL   BANK  [Dec.  13 

of  this  country  opens  a  wide  and  inviting  field  ;  from  the  consist 
ency  and  stability  which  the  public  debt  is  fast  acquiring,  as  well 
in  the  public  opinion  at  home  and  abroad,  as,  in  fact,  from  the 
augmentation  of  capital  which  that  circumstance  and  the  quarter- 
yearly  payment  of  interest  will  afford  ;  and  from  the  more  copious 
circulation  which  will  be  likely  to  be  created  by  a  well  constituted 
national  bank. 

The  establishment  of  banks  in  this  country  seems  to  be  recom 
mended  by  reasons  of  a  peculiar  nature.  Previously  to  the  Revo 
lution,  circulation  was  in  a  great  measure  carried  on  by  paper 
emitted  by  the  several  local  governments.  In  Pennsylvania  alone, 
the  quantity  of  it  was  near  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars.  This 
auxiliary  may  be  said  to  be  now  at  an  end.  And  it  is  generally 
supposed  that  there  has  been,  for  some  time  past,  a  deficiency  of 
circulating  medium.  How  far  that  deficiency  is  to  be  considered 
as  real  or  imaginary,  is  not  susceptible  of  demonstration ;  but 
there  are  circumstances  and  appearances,  which,  in  relation  to  the 
country  at  large,  countenance  the  supposition  of  its  reality.  .  .  . 

Assuming  it,  then,  as  a  consequence,  from  what  has  been  said, 
that  a  National  Bank  is  a  desirable  institution,  two  inquiries 
emerge  :  Is  there  no  such  institution,  already  in  being,  which  has 
a  claim  to  that  character,  and  which  supersedes  the  propriety  or 
necessity  of  another?  If  there  be  none,  what  are  the  principles 
upon  which  one  ought  to  be  established  ?  [The  organization  of 
the  Bank  of  North  America  is  then  examined,  and  the  conclusion 
drawn  that  a  national  bank  should  be  differently  constituted.] 

The  order  of  the  subject  leads  next  to  an  inquiry  into  the  prin 
ciples  upon  which  a  national  bank  ought  to  be  organized. 

The  situation  of  the  United  States  naturally  inspires  a  wish  that 
the  form  of  the  institution  could  admit  of  a  plurality  of  branches. 
But  various  considerations  discourage  from  pursuing  this  idea. 
The  complexity  of  such  a  plan  would  be  apt  to  inspire  doubts, 
which  might  deter  from  adventuring  in  it.  And  the  practicability 
of  a  safe  and  orderly  administration,  though  not  to  be  abandoned 
as  desperate,  cannot  be  made  so  manifest  in  perspective,  as  to 
promise  the  removal  of  those  doubts,  or  to  justify  the  Govern 
ment  in  adopting  the  idea  as  an  original  experiment.  The  most 
that  would  seem  advisable,  on  this  point,  is,  to  insert  a  provision 
which  may  lead  to  it  hereafter,  if  experience  shall  more  clearly 
demonstrate  its  utility,  and  satisfy  those  who  may  have  the  direc- 


1790]  REPORT  ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  71 

tion,  that  it  may  be  adopted  with  safety.  It  is  certain  that  it 
would  have  some  advantages,  both  peculiar  and  important.  Be 
sides  more  general  accommodation,  it  would  lessen  the  danger  of 
a  run  upon  the  bank.  .  .  . 

Another  wish,  dictated  by  the  particular  situation  of  the  coun 
try,  is,  that  the  bank  could  be  so  constituted  as  to  be  made  an 
immediate  instrument  of  loans  to  the  proprietors  of  land ;  but 
this  wish  also  yields  to  the  difficulty  of  accomplishing  it.  ... 

Considerations  of  public  advantage  suggest  a  further  wish, 
which  is  —  that  the  bank  could  be  established  upon  principles, 
that  would  cause  the  profits  of  it  to  redound  to  the  immediate 
benefit  of  the  State.  This  is  contemplated  by  many  who  speak 
of  a  national  bank,  but  the  idea  seems  liable  to  insuperable 
objections.  .  .  . 

It  will  not  follow,  from  what  has  been  said,  that  the  State  may 
not  be  the  holder  of  a  part  of  the  stock  of  a  bank,  and  conse 
quently  a  sharer  in  the  profits  of  it.  It  will  only  follow  that  it 
ought  not  to  desire  any  participation  in  the  direction  of  it,  and, 
therefore,  ought  not  to  own  the  whole  or  a  principal  part  of  the 
stock :  for,  if  the  mass  of  the  property  should  belong  to  the 
public,  and  if  the  direction  of  it  should  be  in  private  hands,  this 
would  be  to  commit  the  interests  of  the  State  to  persons  not 
interested,  or  not  enough  interested  in  their  proper  management. 

There  is  one  thing,  however,  which  the  Government  owes  to 
itself  and  to  the  community  —  at  least,  to  all  that  part  of  it  who 
are  not  stockholders  —  which  is,  to  reserve  to  itself  a  right  of 
ascertaining,  as  often  as  may  be  necessary,  the  state  of  the  bank ; 
excluding,  however,  all  pretension  to  control.  This  right  forms 
an  article  in  the  primitive  constitution  of  the  Bank  of  North 
America ;  and  its  propriety  stands  upon  the  clearest  reasons.  .  .  . 

Abandoning,  therefore,  ideas  which,  however  agreeable  or  de 
sirable,  are  neither  practicable  nor  safe,  the  following  plan,  for 
the  constitution  of  a  National  Bank,  is  respectfully  submitted  to 
the  consideration  of  the  House. 

i.  The  capital  stock  of  the  bank  shall  not  exceed  ten  millions 
of  dollars,  divided  into  twenty-five  thousand  shares,  each  share 
being  four  hundred  dollars ;  to  raise  which  sum,  subscriptions 
shall  be  opened  on  the  first  Monday  of  April  next,  and  shall  con 
tinue  open  until  the  whole  shall  be  subscribed.  Bodies  politic  as 
well  as  individuals  may  subscribe. 


72  REPORT   ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  [Dec.  13 

2.  The  amount  of  each  share  shall  be  payable,  one-fourth  in 
gold  and  silver  coin,  and  three-fourths  in  that  part  of  the  public 
debt,  which,  according  to  the  loan  proposed  by  the  act  making 
provision  for  the  debt  of  the  United  States,  shall  bear  an  accruing 
interest,  at  the  time  of  payment,  of  six  per  centum  per  annum. 

3.  The  respective  sums   subscribed   shall  be  payable  in  four 
equal  parts,  as  well  specie  as  debt,  in  succession,  and  at  the  dis 
tance  of  six  calendar  months  from  each  other ;  the  first  payment 
to  be  made  at  the  time  of  subscription.     If  there  shall  be  a  failure 
in  any  subsequent  payment,  the  party  failing  shall  lose  the  benefit 
of  any  dividend  which  may  have  accrued  prior  to  the  time  for 
making  such  payment,  and  during  the  delay  of  the  same. 

4.  The  subscribers  to  the  bank,  and  their  successors,  shall  be 
incorporated,  and  shall  so  continue  until  the  final  redemption  of 
that  part  of  its  stock  which  shall  consist  of  the  public  debt. 

5.  The  capacity  of  the  corporation  to  hold  real  and  personal 
estate,  shall  be  limited  to  fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  including  the 
amount  of  its  capital,  or  original  stock.     The  lands  and  tenements 
which  it  shall  be  permitted  to  hold,  shall  be  only  such  as  shall  be 
requisite  for  the  immediate  accommodation  of  the  institution,  and 
such  as  shall  have  been  bona  fide   mortgaged  to  it  by  way  of 
security,  or  conveyed  to  it  in  satisfaction  of  debts  previously  con 
tracted,  in  the  usual  course  of  its  dealings,  or  purchased  at  sales 
upon  judgments  which  shall  have  been  obtained  for  such  debts. 

6.  The  totality  of  the  debts  of  the  company,  whether  by  bond, 
bill,  note,  or  other  contract,  (credits  for  deposites  excepted)  shall 
never  exceed  the  amount  of  its  capital  stock.     In  case  of  excess, 
the  directors,  under  whose  administration  it  shall  happen,  shall  be 
liable  for  it  in  their  private  or  separate  capacities.     Those  who 
may  have  dissented  may  excuse  themselves  from  this  responsibility, 
by  immediately  giving  notice  of  the  fact,  and  their  dissent,  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and    to    the    stockholders,  at  a 
general  meeting,  to  be   called  by  the  President  of  the  bank,  at 
their  request. 

7.  The  company  may  sell  or  demise  its  lands  and  tenements, 
or  may  sell  the  whole,  or  any  part  of  the  public  debt,  whereof  its 
stock  shall  consist ;   but  shall  trade  in  nothing   except  bills  of 
exchange,  gold  and  silver  bullion,  or  in  the  sale  of  goods  pledged 
for  money  lent ;  nor  shall  take  more  than  at  the  rate  of  six  per 
centum  per  annum,  upon  its  loans  or  discounts. 


1790]  REPORT  ON   A   NATIONAL  BANK  73 

8.  No   loan   shall   be  made  by  the  bank  for  the  use,  or  on 
account,  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  of  either  of 
them,  to  an  amount  exceeding  fifty  thousand  dollars,  or  of  any 
foreign  prince  or  state,  unless  previously  authorized  by  a  law  of 
the  United  States. 

9.  The  stock,  of  the  bank  shall  be  transferable,  according  to 
such  rules  as  shall  be  instituted  by  the  company  in  that  behalf. 

10.  The  affairs  of  the  bank  shall  be  under  the  management  of 
twenty-five  directors,  one  of  whom  shall  be  the  President ;  and 
there  shall  be,  on  the  first  Monday  of  January,  in  each  year,  a 
choice  of  directors,  by  a  plurality  of  suffrages  of  the  stockholders, 
to  serve  for  a  year.     The  directors,  at  their  first  meeting  after 
each  election,  shall  choose  one  of  their  number  as  President. 

11.  The  number  of  votes  to  which  each  stockholder  shall  be 
entitled,  shall  be  according  to  the  number  of  shares  he  shall  hold, 
in  the  proportions  following,  that  is  to  say :  For  one  share,  and 
not  more  than  two  shares,  one  vote ;  for  every  two  shares  above 
two,   and  not   exceeding  ten,  one  vote ;    for  every   four   shares 
above  ten,   and   not  exceeding  thirty,    one   vote ;    for  every   six 
shares  above  thirty,  and  not  exceeding  sixty,  one  vote ;  for  every 
eight  shares  above  sixty,  and  not   exceeding  one  hundred,  one 
vote ;  and  for  every  ten  shares  above  one  hundred,  one  vote ;  but 
no  person,  co-partnership,  or  body  politic,  shall  be  entitled  to  a 
greater  number  than  thirty  votes.     And,  after  the  first  election,  no 
share  or  shares  shall  confer  a  right  of  suffrage,  which  shall  not 
have  been  hold  en  three  calendar  months  previous  to  the  day  of 
election.     Stockholders  actually  resident  within  the  United  States, 
and  none  other,  may  vote  in  the  elections  by  proxy. 

12.  Not   more   than   three-fourths   of  the    directors  in  office, 
exclusive  of  the  President,  shall  be  eligible  for  the  next  succeeding 
year.     But  the  director  who  shall  be  President  at  the  time  of  an 
election,  may  always  be  re-elected. 

13.  None  but  a  stockholder,  being  a  citizen  of  the   United 
States  shall  be  eligible  as  a  director. 

14.  Any   number   of  stockholders,  not   less   than   sixty,  who, 
together,  shall  be  proprietors  of  two  hundred  shares,  or  upwards, 
shall  have  power,  at  any  time,  to  call  a  general  meeting  of  the 
stockholders,   for  purposes  relative  to  the  institution ;    giving  at 
least  six  weeks  notice,  in  two  public  gazettes,  of  the  place  where 
the  bank  is  kept,  and  specifying,  in  such  notice,  the  object  of  the 
meeting. 


74  REPORT   ON   A  NATIONAL   BANK  [Dec.  13 

15.  In  case  of  the  death,  resignation,  absence  from  the  United 
States,  or  removal,  of  a  director,  by  the  stockholders,  his  place  may 
be  rilled  by  a  new  choice  for  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

1 6.  No  director  shall  be  entitled  to  any  emolument,  unless  the 
same  shall   have  been  allowed  by  the  stockholders  at  a  general 
meeting.     The  stockholders  shall  make  such  compensation  to  the 
President,  for  his  extraordinary  attendance  at  the  bank,  as  shall 
appear  to  them  reasonable. 

17.  Not  less  than  seven  directors  shall  constitute  a  board  for 
the  transaction  of  business. 

1 8.  Every  cashier  or  treasurer,  before  he  enters  on  the  duties 
of  his  office,  shall  be  required  to  give  bond,  with  two  or  more 
sureties,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  directors,  in  a  sum  not  less  than 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  with  condition  for  his  good  behavior. 

19.  Half-yearly  dividends  shall  be  made   of  so  much  of  the 
profits  of  the   bank,  as  shall  appear  to  the  directors  advisable. 
And,  once  in  every  three  years,  the  directors  shall  lay  before  the 
stockholders,  at  a  general  meeting,  for  their  information,  an  exact 
and  particular  statement  of  the  debts  which  shall  have  remained 
unpaid,  after  the  expiration  of  the  original  credit,  for  a  period  of 
treble  the  term  of  that  credit,  and  of  the  surplus  of  profit,  if  any, 
after  deducting  losses  and  dividends. 

20.  The  bills  and  notes  of  the  bank,  originally  made  payable, 
or  which  shall  have  become  payable,   on  demand,   in  gold  and 
silver   coin,   shall  be  receivable   in  all  payments  to  the  United 
States. 

21.  The  officer  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury  Department  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  furnished,  from  time  to  time,  as  often  as  he 
may  require,  not  exceeding  once  a  week,  with  statements  of  the 
amount  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  bank,  and  of  the  debts  due  to 
the  same,  of  the  moneys  deposited  therein,  of  the  notes  in  circu 
lation,  and  of  the  cash  in  hand ;  and  shall  have  a  right  to  inspect 
such  general  accounts  in  the  books  of  the  bank  as  shall  relate  to 
the  said  statements ;  provided  that  this  shall  not  be  construed  to 
imply  a  right  of  inspecting  the  account  of  any  private  individual 
or  individuals,  with  the  bank. 

22.  No  similar  institution  shall  be  established  by  any  future  act 
of  the  United  States,  during  the  continuance  of  the  one  hereby 
proposed  to  be  established. 

23.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  directors  of  the  bank  to  establish 


1790]  REPORT   ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  75 

offices  wheresoever  they  shall  think  fit,  within  the  United  States, 
for  the  purposes  of  discount  and  deposite,  only,  and  upon  the 
same  terms,  and  in  the  same  manner,  as  shall  be  practised  at  the 
bank,  and  to  commit  the  management  of  the  said  offices,  and 
the  making  of  the  said  discounts,  either  to  agents  specially  ap 
pointed  by  them,  or  to  such  persons  as  may  be  chosen  by  the 
stockholders  residing  at  the  place  where  any  such  office  shall  be, 
under  such  agreements,  and  subject  to  such  regulations,  as  they 
shall  deem  proper,  not  being  contrary  to  law,  or  to  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  bank. 

24.  And,  lastly,  the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
authorized  to  cause  a  subscription  to  be  made  to  the  stock  of  the 
said  company,  on  behalf  of  the  United  States,  to  an  amount  not 
exceeding  two  millions  of  dollars,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  moneys 
which  shall  be  borrowed  by  virtue  of  either  of  the  acts,  the  one, 
entitled  "An  act  making  provision  for  the  debt  of  the  United 
States;"  and  the  other,  entitled  "An  act  making  provision  for 
the  reduction  of  the  public  debt ;  "  borrowing  of  the  bank  an 
equal  sum,  to  be  applied  to  the  purposes  for  which  the  said 
moneys  shall  have  been  procured,  reimburseable  in  ten  years,  by 
equal  annual  instalments  ;  or  at  any  time  sooner,  or  in  any  greater 
proportions,  that  the  Government  may  think  fit.  ... 

The  Secretary  begs  leave  to  conclude  with  this  general  observa 
tion  :  That,  if  the  Bank  of  North  America  shall  come  forward  with 
any  propositions  which  have  for  their  objects  the  engrafting  upon 
that  institution,  the  characteristics  which  shall  appear  to  the 
Legislature  necessary  to  the  due  extent  and  safety  of  a  National 
Bank,  there  are,  in  his  judgment,  weighty  inducements  to  giving 
every  reasonable  facility  to  the  measure.  Not  only  the  preten 
sions  of  that  institution,  from  its  original  relation  to  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  and  from  the  services  it  has  rendered, 
are  such  as  to  claim  a  disposition  favorable  to  it,  if  those  who  are 
interested  in  it  are  willing,  on  their  part,  to  place  it  on  a  footing 
satisfactory  to  the  Government,  and  equal  to  the  purposes  of  a 
bank  of  the  United  States,  but  its  co-operation  would  materially 
accelerate  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  object,  and  the  colli 
sion,  which  might  otherwise  arise,  might,  in  a  variety  of  ways, 
prove  equally  disagreeable  and  injurious.  The  incorporation  or 
union  here  contemplated,  may  be  effected  in  different  modes, 
under  the  auspices  of  an  act  of  the  United  States,  if  it  shall  be 


76  JEFFERSON  ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  [Feb.  15 

desired  by  the  Bank  of  North  America,  upon  terms  which  shall 
appear  expedient  to  the  Government.  .  .  . 


No.   10.     Jefferson's   Opinion   on   the    Constitu 
tionality  of  a  National  Bank 

February  15,  1791 

THE  doubts  awakened  in  Washington's  mind  by  the  strong  opposition  to  the 
bank  bill,  both  in  and  out  of  Congress,  led  him  to  require  the  written  opinions 
of  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  measure. 
Jefferson  and  Randolph  decided  against  the  bank.  Randolph's  views  are  not 
important,  but  Jefferson's  opinion  still  remains  one  of  the  best  concise  state 
ments  of  the  "  strict  constructionist "  view  of  the  powers  of  the  Federal 
Government. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Jefferson's  Works  (ed.  1854),  VII.,  555-561. 

The  bill  for  establishing  a  National  Bank  undertakes  among 
other  things  :  — 

1.  To  form  the  subscribers  into  a  corporation. 

2.  To  enable  them  in  their   corporate   capacities  to  receive 
grants  of  land ;  and  so  far  is  against  the  laws  of  Mortmain* 

3.  To  make  alien  subscribers  capable  of  holding  lands ;   and 
so  far  is  against  the  laws  of  alienage. 

4.  To  transmit  these  lands,  on  the  death  of  a  proprietor,  to 
a  certain  line  of  successors ;   and  so  far  changes  the  course  of 
Descents. 

5.  To  put  the  lands  out  of  the  reach  of  forfeiture  or  escheat; 
and  so  far  is  against  the  laws  of  Forfeiture  and  Escheat. 

6.  To  transmit  personal  chattels  to  successors  in  a  certain  line ; 
and  so  far  is  against  the  laws  of  Distribution. 

7.  To  give  them  the  sole  and  exclusive  right  of  banking  under 
the  national  authority ;  and  so  far  is  against  the  laws  of  Monopoly. 

8.  To  communicate  to  them  a  power  to  make  laws  paramount 
to  the  laws  of  the  States  ;   for  so  they  must  be  construed,  to  pro 
tect  the  institution  from  the  control  of  the  State  legislatures ;  and 
so,  probably,  they  will  be  construed. 

*  Though  the  Constitution  controls  the  laws  of  Mortmain  so  far  as  to  permit 
Congress  itself  to  hold  land  for  certain  purposes,  yet  not  so  far  as  to  permit  them 
to  communicate  a  similar  right  to  other  corporate  bodies. 


1 79 1]  JEFFERSON   ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  77 

I  consider  the  foundation  of  the  Constitution  as  laid  on  this 
ground  :  That  "  all  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States,  by 
the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved 
to  the  States  or  to  the  people."  [XSth  amendment]  To  take 
a  single  step  beyond  the  boundaries  thus  specially  drawn  around 
the  powers  of  Congress,  is  to  take  possession  of  a  boundless  field 
of  power,  no  longer  susceptible  of  any  definition. 

The  incorporation  of  a  bank,  and  the  powers  assumed  by  this 
bill,  have  not,  in  my  opinion,  been  delegated  to  the  United  States, 
by  the  Constitution. 

I.  They  are  not  among  the  powers  specially  enumerated :  for 
these  are  :  ist.  A  power  to  lay  taxes  for  the  purpose  of  paying 
the  debts  of  the  United  States ;  but  no  debt  is  paid  by  this  bill, 
nor  any  tax  laid.  Were  it  a  bill  to  raise  money,  its  origination  in 
the  Senate  would  condemn  it  by  the  Constitution. 

2d.  "To  borrow  money."  But  this  bill  neither  borrows  money 
nor  ensures  the  borrowing  it.  The  proprietors  of  the  bank  will 
be  just  as  free  as  any  other  money  holders,  to  lend  or  not  to  lend 
their  money  to  the  public.  The  operation  proposed  in  the  bill, 
first,  to  lend  them  two  millions,  and  then  to  borrow  them  back 
again,  cannot  change  the  nature  of  the  latter  act,  which  will 
still  be  a  payment,  and  not  a  loan,  call  it  by  what  name  you 
please. 

3.  To  "regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among 
the  States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes."  To  erect  a  bank,  and  to 
regulate  commerce,  are  very  different  acts.  He  who  erects  a  bank, 
creates  a  subject  of  commerce  in  its  bills ;  so  does  he  who  makes 
a  bushel  of  wheat,  or  digs  a  dollar  out  of  the  mines ;  yet  neither 
of  these  persons  regulates  commerce  thereby.  To  make  a  thing 
which  may  be  bought  and  sold,  is  not  to  prescribe  regulations  for 
buying  and  selling.  Besides,  if  this  was  an  exercise  of  the  power 
of  regulating  commerce,  it  would  be  void,  as  extending  as  much 
to  the  internal  commerce  of  every  State,  as  to  its  external.  For 
the  power  given  to  Congress  by  the  Constitution  does  not  extend 
to  the  internal  regulation  of  the  commerce  of  a  State,  (that  is  to 
say  of  the  commerce  between  citizen  and  citizen.)  which  remain 
exclusively  with  its  own  legislature ;  but  to  its  external  commerce 
only,  that  is  to  say,  its  commerce  with  another  State,  or  with  for 
eign  nations,  or  with  the  Indian  tribes.  Accordingly  the  bill  does 
not  propose  the  measure  as  a  regulation  of  trade,  but  as  "  produc- 


78  JEFFERSON   ON   A  NATIONAL  BANK  [Feb.  15 

tive  of  considerable  advantages  to  trade."     Still  less  are  these 
powers  covered  by  any  other  of  the  special  enumerations. 

II.  Nor  are  they  within  either  of  the  general  phrases,  which 
are  the  two  following  :  — 

1.  To  lay  taxes  to  provide  for  the  general  welfare  of  the  United 
States,  that  is  to  say,  "  to  lay  taxes  for  the  purpose  of  providing  for 
the  general  welfare."     For  the  laying  of  taxes  is  the  power,  and 
the  general  welfare  the  purpose  for  which  the  power  is  to  be  exer 
cised.     They  are  not  to  lay  taxes  ad  libitum  for  any  purpose  they 
please  ;  but  only  to  pay  the  debts  or  provide  for  the  welfare  of  the 
Union.     In  like  manner,  they  are  not  to  do  anything  they  please 
to  provide  for  the  general  welfare,  but  only  to  lay  taxes  for  that 
purpose.     To   consider  the  latter  phrase,  not  as  describing  the 
purpose  of  the   first,  but  as  giving  a  distinct  and   independent 
power  to  do  any  act  they  please,  which  might  be  for  the  good 
of  the  Union,  would  render  all  the  preceding  and  subsequent 
enumerations  of  power  completely  useless. 

It  would  reduce  the  whole  instrument  to  a  single  phrase,  that 
of  instituting  a  Congress  with  power  to  do  whatever  would  be  for 
the  good  of  the  United  States ;  and,  as  they  would  be  the  sole 
judges  of  the  good  or  evil,  it  would  be  also  a  power  to  do  what 
ever  evil  they  please. 

It  is  an  established  rule  of  construction  where  a  phrase  will 
bear  either  of  two  meanings,  to  give  it  that  which  will  allow  some 
meaning  to  the  other  parts  of  the  instrument,  and  not  that  which 
would  render  all  the  others  useless.  Certainly  no  such  universal 
power  was  meant  to  be  given  them.  It  was  intended  to  lace  them 
up  straitly  within  the  enumerated  powers,  and  those  without  which, 
as  means,  these  powers  could  not  be  carried  into  effect.  It  is 
known  that  the  very  power  now  proposed  as  a  means  was  rejected 
as  an  end  by  the  Convention  which  formed  the  Constitution.  A 
proposition  was  made  to  them  to  authorize  Congress  to  open 
canals,  and  an  amendatory  one  to  empower  them  to  incorporate. 
But  the  whole  was  rejected,  and  one  of  the  reasons  for  rejection 
urged  in  debate  was,  that  then  they  would  have  a  power  to  erect 
a  bank,  which  would  render  the  great  cities,  where  there  were 
prejudices  and  jealousies  on  the  subject,  adverse  to  the  reception 
of  the  Constitution. 

2.  The  second  general  phrase  is,  "to  make  all  laws  necessary 
and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  enumerated  powers." 


1 79 1]  JEFFERSON   ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  79 

But  they  can  all  be  carried  into  execution  without  a  bank.  A 
bank  therefore  is  not  necessary,  and  consequently  not  authorized 
by  this  phrase. 

It  has  been  urged  that  a  bank  will  give  great  facility  or  con 
venience  in  the  collection  of  taxes.  Suppose  this  were  true  :  yet 
the  Constitution  allows  only  the  means  which  are  "  necessary"  not 
those  which  are  merely  "convenient"  for  effecting  the  enumerated 
powers.  If  such  a  latitude  of  construction  be  allowed  to  this 
phrase  as  to  give  any  non-enumerated  power,  it  will  go  to  every 
one,  for  there  is  not  one  which  ingenuity  may  not  torture  into 
a  convenience  in  some  instance  or  other,  to  some  one  of  so  long 
a  list  of  enumerated  powers.  It  would  swallow  up  all  the  dele 
gated  powers,  and  reduce  the  whole  to  one  power,  as  before 
observed.  Therefore  it  was  that  the  Constitution  restrained 
them  to  the  necessary  means,  that  is  to  say,  to  those  means  with 
out  which  the  grant  of  power  would  be  nugatory. 

But  let  us  examine  this  convenience  and  see  what  it  is.  The 
report  on  this  subject,  page  3,  states  the  only  general  convenience 
to  be,  the  preventing  the  transportation  and  re-transportation  of 
money  between  the  States  and  the  treasury,  (for  I  pass  over  the 
increase  of  circulating  medium,  ascribed  to  it  as  a  want,  and 
which,  according  to  my  ideas  of  paper  money,  is  clearly  a 
demerit.)  Every  State  will  have  to  pay  a  sum  of  tax  money 
into  the  treasury ;  and  the  treasury  will  have  to  pay,  in  every 
State,  a  part  of  the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  and  salaries  to 
the  officers  of  government  resident  in  that  State.  In  most  of  the 
States  there  will  still  be  a  surplus  of  tax  money  to  come  up  to  the 
seat  of  government  for  the  officers  residing  there.  The  payments 
of  interest  and  salary  in  each  State  may  be  made  by  treasury 
orders  on  the  State  collector.  This  will  take  up  the  great  export 
of  the  money  he  has  collected  in  his  State,  and  consequently  pre 
vent  the  great  .mass  of  it  from  being  drawn  out  of  the  State.  If 
there  be  a  balance  of  commerce  in  favor  of  that  State  against  the 
one  in  which  the  government  resides,  the  surplus  of  taxes  will  be 
remitted  by  the  bills  of  exchange  drawn  for  that  commercial  bal 
ance.  And  so  it  must  be  if  there  was  a  bank.  But  if  there  be  no 
balance  of  commerce,  either  direct  or  circuitous,  all  the  banks  in 
the  world  could  not  bring  up  the  surplus  of  taxes,  but  in  the  form 
of  money.  Treasury  orders  then,  and  bills  of  exchange  may  pre 
vent  the  displacement  of  the  main  mass  of  the  money  collected, 


SO  JEFFERSON  ON   A  NATIONAL  BANK  [Feb.  15 

without  the  aid  of  any  bank ;  and  where  these  fail,  it  cannot  be 
prevented  even  with  that  aid. 

Perhaps,  indeed,  bank  bills  may  be  a  more  convenient  vehicle 
than  treasury  orders.  But  a  little  difference  in  the  degree  of  con 
venience,  cannot  constitute  the  necessity  which  the  constitution 
makes  the  ground  for  assuming  any  non-enumerated  power. 

Besides ;  the  existing  banks  will,  without  a  doubt,  enter  into 
arrangements  for  lending  their  agency,  and  the  more  favorable, 
as  there  will  be  a  competition  among  them  for  it ;  whereas  the 
bill  delivers  us  up  bound  to  the  national  bank,  who  are  free  to 
refuse  all  arrangement,  but  on  their  own  terms,  and  the  public 
not  free,  on  such  refusal,  to  employ  any  other  bank.  That  of 
Philadelphia,  I  believe,  now  does  this  business,  by  their  post- 
notes,  which,  by  an  arrangement  with  the  treasury,  are  paid  by 
any  State  collector  to  whom  they  are  presented.  This  expedient 
alone  suffices  to  prevent  the  existence  of  that  necessity  which  may 
justify  the  assumption  of  a  non-enumerated  power  as  a  means  for 
carrying  into  effect  an  enumerated  one.  The  thing  may  be  done, 
and  has  been  done,  and  well  done,  without  this  assumption ;  there 
fore,  it  does  not  stand  on  that  degree  of  necessity  which  can  honestly 
justify  it. 

It  may  be  said  that  a  bank  whose  bills  would  have  a  currency 
all  over  the  States,  would  be  more  convenient  than  one  whose 
currency  is  limited  to  a  single  State.  So  it  would  be  still  more 
convenient  that  there  should  be  a  bank,  whose  bills  should  have  a 
currency  all  over  the  world.  But  it  does  not  follow  from  this  superior 
conveniency,  that  there  exists  anywhere  a  power  to  establish  such 
a  bank ;  or  that  the  world  may  not  go  on  very  well  without  it. 

Can  it  be  thought  that  the  Constitution  intended  that  for  a 
shade  or  two  of  convenience,  more  or  less,  Congress  should  be 
authorized  to  break  down  the  most  ancient  and  fundamental  laws 
of  the  several  States ;  such  as  those  against  Mortmain,  the  laws  of 
Alienage,  the  rules  of  descent,  the  acts  of  distribution,  the  laws 
of  escheat  and  forfeiture,  the  laws  of  monopoly?  Nothing  but 
a  necessity  invincible  by  any  other  means,  can  justify  such  a  pros 
titution  of  laws,  which  constitute  the  pillars  of  our  whole  system 
of  jurisprudence.  Will  Congress  be  too  straight-laced  to  carry 
the  constitution  into  honest  effect,  unless  they  may  pass  over  the 
foundation-laws  of  the  State  government  for  the  slightest  con 
venience  of  theirs  ? 


1 790  HAMILTON   ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  8 1 

The  negative  of  the  President  is  the  shield  provided  by  the 
constitution  to  protect  against  the  invasions  of  the  legislature  : 
i.  The  right  of  the  Executive.  2.  Of  the  Judiciary.  3.  Of 
the  States  and  State  legislatures.  The  present  is  the  case  of  a 
right  remaining  exclusively  with  the  States,  and  consequently 
one  of  those  intended  by  the  Constitution  to  be  placed  under 
its  protection. 

It  must  be  added,  however,  that  unless  the  President's  mind 
on  a  view  of  everything  which  is  urged  for  and  against  this  bill, 
is  tolerably  clear  that  it  is  unauthorised  by  the  Constitution ;  if 
the  pro  and  the  con  hang  so  even  as  to  balance  his  judgment, 
a  just  respect  for  the  wisdom  of  the  legislature  would  naturally 
decide  the  balance  in  favor  of  their  opinion.  It  is  chiefly  for 
cases  where  they  are  clearly  misled  by  error,  ambition,  or  interest, 
that  the  Constitution  has  placed  a  check  in  the  negative  of  the 
President. 


No.  ii.     Hamilton's  Opinion  on  the  Constitu 
tionality  of  a  National  Bank 

February  23,  1791 

THE  opinions  of  Jefferson  and  Randolph  against  the  constitutionality  of  the 
bank  were  submitted  to  Hamilton,  and  his  opinion  upholding  the  bank  act, 
and  expounding  the  doctrine  of  implied  powers,  aimed  primarily  to  refute  the 
arguments  urged  by  them. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Hamilton's  Works  (ed.  1851),  IV.,  104-138.  For 
Washington's  letter  to  Hamilton,  see  ib.,  IV.,  103. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  having  perused  with  attention 
the  papers  containing  the  opinions  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and 
Attorney-General,  concerning  the  constitutionality  of  the  bill  for 
establishing  a  National  Bank,  proceeds,  according  to  the  order  of 
the  President,  to  submit  the  reasons  which  have  induced  him  to 
entertain  a  different  opinion.  .  .  . 

In  entering  upon  the  argument,  it  ought  to  be  premised  that 
the  objections  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  Attorney-General 
are  founded  on  a  general  denial  of  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  to  erect  corporations.  The  latter,  indeed,  expressly 
admits,  that  if  there  be  any  thing  in  the  bill  which  is  not  war 
ranted  by  the  Constitution,  it  is  the  clause  of  incorporation. 


82  HAMILTON   ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  [Feb.  23 

Now  it  appears  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that  this  gen 
eral  principle  is  inherent  in  the  very  definition  of  government,  and 
essential  to  every  step  of  the  progress  to  be  made  by  that  of  the 
United  States,  namely  :  That  every  power  vested  in  a  government 
is  in  its  nature  sovereign,  and  includes,  by  force  of  the  term,  a 
right  to  employ  all  the  means  requisite  and  fairly  applicable  to 
the  attainment  of  the  ends  of  such  power,  and  which  are  not 
precluded  by  restrictions  and  exceptions  specified  in  the  Con 
stitution,  or  not  immoral,  or  not  contrary  to  the  essential  ends  of 
political  society. 

This  principle,  in  its  application  to  government  in  general,  would 
be  admitted  as  an  axiom ;  and  it  will  be  incumbent  upon  those 
who  may  incline  to  deny  it,  to  prove  a  distinction,  and  to  show 
that  a  rule  which,  in  the  general  system  of  things,  is  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  the  social  order,  is  inapplicable  to  the  United  States. 

The  circumstance  that  the  powers  of  sovereignty  are  in  this 
country  divided  between  the  National  and  State  governments, 
does  not  afford  the  distinction  required.  It  does  not  follow  from 
this,  that  each  of  the  portion  of  powers  delegated  to  the  one  or  to 
the  other,  is  not  sovereign  with  regard  to  its  proper  objects.  It  will 
only  follow  from  it,  that  each  has  sovereign  power  as  to  certain 
things,  and  not  as  to  other  things.  To  deny  that  the  government 
of  the  United  States  has  sovereign  power,  as  to  its  declared  pur 
poses  and  trusts,  because  its  power  does  not  extend  to  all  cases, 
would  be  equally  to  deny  that  the  State  governments  have  sover 
eign  power  in  any  case,  because  their  power  does  not  extend  to 
every  case.  The  tenth  section  of  the  first  article  of  the  Constitu 
tion  exhibits  a  long  list  of  very  important  things  which  they  may 
not  do.  And  thus  the  United  States  would  furnish  the  singular 
spectacle  of  a  political  society  without  sovereignty,  or  of  a  people 
governed,  without  government. 

If  it  would  be  necessary  to  bring  proof  to  a  proposition  so  clear, 
as  that  which  affirms  that  the  powers  of  the  federal  government, 
as  to  its  objects,  were  sovereign,  there  is  a  clause  of  its  Constitu 
tion  which  would  be  decisive.  It  is  that  which  declares  that  the 
Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  made  in  pursuance 
of  it,  and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their 
authority,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  The  power  which 
can  create  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  in  any  case,  is  doubtless 
sovereign  as  to  such  case. 


1791]  HAMILTON  ON   A  NATIONAL  BANK  83 

This  general  and  indisputable  principle  puts  at  once  an  end  to 
the  abstract  question,  whether  the  United  States  have  power  to 
erect  a  corporation;  that  is  to  say,  to  give  a  legal  or  artificial 
capacity  to  one  or  more  persons,  distinct  from  the  natural.  For 
it  is  unquestionably  incident  to  sovereign  power  to  erect  corpora 
tions,  and  consequently  to  that  of  the  United  States,  in  relation  to 
the  objects  intrusted  to  the  management  of  the  government.  The 
difference  is  this  :  where  the  authority  of  the  government  is  gen 
eral,  it  can  create  corporations  in  all  cases  ;  where  it  is  confined 
to  certain  branches  of  legislation,  it  can  create  corporations  only 
in  those  cases. 

Here  then,  as  far  as  concerns  the  reasonings  of  the  Secretary 
of  State  and  the  Attorney-General,  the  affirmative  of  the  consti 
tutionality  of  the  bill  might  be  permitted  to  rest.  It  will  occur 
to  the  President,  that  the  principle  here  advanced  has  been 
untouched  by  either  of  them. 

For  a  more  complete  elucidation  of  the  point,  nevertheless, 
the  arguments  which  they  had  used  against  the  power  of  the  gov 
ernment  to  erect  corporations,  however  foreign  they  are  to  the 
great  and  fundamental  rule  which  has  been  stated,  shall  be  par 
ticularly  examined.  And  after  showing  that  they  do  not  tend 
to  impair  its  force,  it  shall  also  be  shown  that  the  power  of  incor 
poration,  incident  to  the  government  in  certain  cases,  does  fairly 
extend  to  the  particular  case  which  is  the  object  of  the  bill. 

The  first  of  these  arguments  is,  that  the  foundation  of  the  Con 
stitution  is  laid  on  this  ground  :  "  That  all  powers  not  delegated 
to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  to  it  by 
the  States,  are  reserved  for  the  States,  or  to  the  people."  Whence 
it  is  meant  to  be  inferred,  that  Congress  can  in  no  case  exercise 
any  power  not  included  in  those  not  enumerated  in  the  Constitu 
tion.  And  it  is  affirmed,  that  the  power  of  erecting  a  corporation 
is  not  included  in  any  of  the  enumerated  powers. 

The  main  proposition  here  laid  down,  in  its  true  signification  is 
not  to  be  questioned.  .  .  .  But  how  much  is  delegated  in  each 
case,  is  a  question  of  fact,  to  be  made  out  by  fair  reasoning  and 
construction,  upon  the  particular  provisions  of  the  Constitution, 
taking  as  guides  the  general  principles  and  general  ends  of  gov 
ernments. 

It  is  not  denied  that  there  are  implied,  as  well  as  express  powers, 
and  that  \htformer  are  as  effectually  delegated  as  the  latter.  And 


84  HAMILTON   ON   A  NATIONAL  BANK  [Feb.  23 

for  the  sake  of  accuracy  it  shall  be  mentioned,  that  there  is  another 
class  of  powers,  which  may  be  properly  denominated  resulting 
powers.  It  will  not  be  doubted,  that  if  the  United  States  should 
make  a  conquest  of  any  of  the  territories  of  its  neighbors,  they 
would  possess  sovereign  jurisdiction  over  the  conquered  territory. 
This  would  be  rather  a  result,  from  the  whole  mass  of  the 
powers  of  the  government,  and  from  the  nature  of  political 
society,  than  a  consequence  of  either  of  the  powers  specially 
enumerated.  .  .  . 

To  return  :  —  It  is  conceded  that  implied  powers  are  to  be  con 
sidered  as  delegated  equally  with  express  ones.  Then  it  follows, 
that  as  a  power  of  erecting  a  corporation  may  as  well  be  implied 
as  any  other  thing,  it  may  as  well  be  employed  as  an  instrument 
or  mean  of  carrying  into  execution  any  of  the  specified  powers, 
as  any  other  instrument  or  mean  whatever.  The  only  question 
must  be,  in  this,  as  in  every  other  case,  whether  the  mean  to 
be  employed,  or  in  this  instance,  the  corporation  to  be  erected, 
has  a  natural  relation  to  any  of  the  acknowledged  objects  or  lawful 
ends  of  the  government.  Thus  a  corporation  may  not  be  erected 
by  Congress  for  superintending  the  police  of  the  city  of  Philadel 
phia,  because  they  are  not  authorized  to  regulate  the  police  of  that 
city.  But  one  may  be  erected  in  relation  to  the  collection  of 
taxes,  or  to  the  trade  with  foreign  countries,  or  to  the  trade 
between  the  States,  or  with  the  Indian  tribes ;  because  it  is  the 
province  of  the  federal  government  to  regulate  those  objects,  and 
because  it  is  incident  to  a  general  sovereign  or  legislative  power  to 
regulate  a  thing,  to  employ  all  the  means  which  relate  to  its  regu 
lation  to  the  best  and  greatest  advantage.  .  .  . 

Through  this  mode  of  reasoning  respecting  the  right  of  employ 
ing  all  the  means  requisite  to  the  execution  of  the  specified  powers 
of  the  government,  it  is  objected,  that  none  but  necessary  and 
proper  means  are  to  be  employed ;  and  the  Secretary  of  State 
maintains,  that  no  means  are  to  be  considered  as  necessary  but 
those  without  which  the  grant  of  the  power  would  be  nugatory. 
Nay,  so  far  does  he  go  in  his  restrictive  interpretation  of  the  word, 
as  even  to  make  the  case  of  necessity  which  shall  warrant  the  con 
stitutional  exercise  of  the  power  to  depend  on  casual  and  tempo 
rary  circumstances  ;  an  idea  which  alone  refutes  the  construction. 
The  expediency  of  exercising  a  particular  power,  at  a  particular 
time,  must,  indeed,  depend  on  circumstances ;  but  the  constitu- 


1 79 1]  HAMILTON   ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  85 

tional  right  of  exercising  it  must  be  uniform  and  invariable,  the 
same  to-day  as  to-morrow. 

All  the  arguments,  therefore,  against  the  constitutionality  of  the 
bill  derived  from  the  accidental  existence  of  certain  State  banks, 
—  institutions  which  happen  to  exist  to-day,  and,  for  aught  that 
concerns  the  government  of  the  United  States,  may  disappear 
to-morrow,  —  must  not  only  be  rejected  as  fallacious,  but  must 
be  viewed  as  demonstrative  that  there  is  a  radical  source  of  error 
in  the  reasoning. 

It  is  essential  to  the  being  of  the  national  government,  that  so 
erroneous  a  conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  word  necessary 
should  be  exploded. 

It  is  certain,  that  neither  the  grammatical  nor  popular  sense  of 
the  term  requires  that  construction.  According  to  both,  necessary 
often  means  no  more  than  needful,  reqttisite,  incidental,  useful,  or 
conducive  to.  It  is  a  common  mode  of  expression  to  say,  that  it 
is  necessary  for  a  government  or  a  person  to  do  this  or  that  thing, 
when  nothing  more  is  intended  or  understood,  than  that  the  inter 
ests  of  the  government  or  person  require,  or  will  be  promoted  by, 
the  doing  of  this  or  that  thing.  The  imagination  can  be  at  no 
loss  for  exemplifications  of  the  use  of  the  word  in  this  sense. 
And  it  is  the  true  one  in  which  it  is  to  be  understood  as  used  in 
the  Constitution.  The  whole  turn  of  the  clause  containing  it 
indicates,  that  it  was  the  intent  of  the  Convention,  by  that  clause, 
to  give  a  liberal  latitude  to  the  exercise  of  the  specified  powers. 
The  expressions  have  peculiar  comprehensiveness.  They  are, 
ato  make  all  laws  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execu 
tion  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by  the 
Constitution  in  the  government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any 
department  or  officer  thereof." 

To  understand  the  word  as  the  Secretary  of  State  does,  would 
be  to  depart  from  its  obvious  and  popular  sense,  and  to  give  it  a 
restrictive  operation,  an  idea  never  before  entertained.  It  would 
be  to  give  it  the  same  force  as  if  the  word  absolutely  or  indispen 
sably  had  been  prefixed  to  it. 

Such  a  construction  would  beget  endless  uncertainty  and  embar 
rassment.  The  cases  must  be  palpable  and  extreme,  in  which  it 
could  be  pronounced,  with  certainty,  that  a  measure  was  abso 
lutely  necessary,  or  one,  without  which,  the  exercise  of  a  given 
power  would  be  nugatory.  There  are  few  measures  of  any  gov- 


86  HAMILTON   ON   A  NATIONAL   BANK  [Feb.  23 

ernment  which  would  stand  so  severe  a  test.  To  insist  upon  it, 
would  be  to  make  the  criterion  of  the  exercise  of  any  implied 
power,  a  case  of  extreme  necessity ;  which  is  rather  a  rule  to  justify 
the  overleaping  of  the  bounds  of  constitutional  authority,  than  to 
govern  the  ordinary  exercise  of  it.  ... 

The  degree  in  which  a  measure  is  necessary,  can  never  be  a  test 
of  the  legal  right  to  adopt  it ;  that  must  be  a  matter  of  opinion, 
and  can  only  be  a  test  of  expediency.  The  relation  between  the 
measure  and  the  end;  between  the  nature  of  the  mean  employed 
towards  the  execution  of  a  power,  and  the  object  of  that  power, 
must  be  the  criterion  of  constitutionality,  not  the  more  or  less  of 
necessity  or  utility. 

The  practice  of  the  government  is  against  the  rule  of  construc 
tion  advocated  by  the  Secretary  of  State.  Of  this,  the  Act 
concerning  light-houses,  beacons,  buoys,  and  public  piers,  is  a 
decisive  example.  This,  doubtless,  must  be  referred  to  the 
powers  of  regulating  trade,  and  is  fairly  relative  to  it.  But  it 
cannot  be  affirmed  that  the  exercise  of  that  power  in  this  instance 
was  strictly  necessary,  or  that  the  power  itself  would  be  nugatory, 
without  that  of  regulating  establishments  of  this  nature. 

This  restrictive  interpretation  of  the  word  necessary  is  also 
contrary  to  this  sound  maxim  of  construction ;  namely,  that  the 
powers  contained  in  a  constitution  of  government,  especially 
those  which  concern  the  general  administration  of  the  affairs  of 
a  country,  its  finances,  trade,  defence,  &c.,  ought  to  be  construed 
liberally  in  advancement  of  the  public  good.  This  rule  does  not 
depend  on  the  particular  form  of  a  government,  or  on  the  particu 
lar  demarkation  of  the  boundaries  of  its  powers,  but  on  the  nature 
and  objects  of  government  itself.  The  means  by  which  national 
exigencies  are  to  be  provided  for,  national  inconveniences  obvi 
ated,  national  prosperity  promoted,  are  of  such  infinite  variety, 
extent,  and  complexity,  that  there  must  of  necessity  be  great  lati 
tude  of  discretion  in  the  selection  and  application  of  those  means. 
Hence,  consequently,  the  necessity  and  propriety  of  exercising  the 
authorities  intrusted  to  a  government  on  principles  of  liberal  con 
struction.  .  .  . 

But  while  on  the  one  hand  the  construction  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  is  deemed  inadmissible,  it  will  not  be  contended,  on  the 
other,  that  the  clause  in  question  gives  any  new  or  independent 
power.  But  it  gives  an  explicit  sanction  to  the  doctrine  of  implied 


1 791]  HAMILTON   ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  8/ 

powers,  and  is  equivalent  to  an  admission  of  the  proposition  that 
the  government,  as  to  its  specified  powers  and  objects,  has  plenary 
and  sovereign  authority,  in  some  cases  paramount  to  the  States,- 
in  others,  co-ordinate  with  it.  For  such  is  the  plain  import  of  the 
declaration,  that  it  may  pass  all  laws  necessary  and  proper  to  carry 
into  execution  those  powers. 

It  is  no  valid  objection  to  the  doctrine  to  say,  that  it  is  calcu 
lated  to  extend  the  power  of  the  general  government  throughout 
the  entire  sphere  of  State  legislation.  The  same  thing  has  been 
said,  and  may  be  said,  with  regard  to  every  exercise  of  power  by 
implication  or  construction.  .  .  . 

But  the  doctrine  which  is  contended  for  is  not  chargeable  with 
the  consequences  imputed  to  it.  It  does  not  affirm  that  the 
national  government  is  sovereign  in  all  respects,  but  that  it  is 
sovereign  to  a  certain  extent ;  that  is,  to  the  extent  of  the  objects 
of  its  specified  powers. 

It  leaves,  therefore,  a  criterion  of  what  is  constitutional,  and  of 
what  is  not  so.  This  criterion  is  the  end,  to  which  the  measure 
relates  as  a  mean.  If  the  end  be  clearly  comprehended  within  any 
of  the  specified  powers,  and  if  the  measure  have  an  obvious  rela 
tion  to  that  end,  and  is  not  forbidden  by  any  particular  provision 
of  the  Constitution,  it  may  safely  be  deemed  to  come  within  the 
compass  of  the  national  authority.  There  is  also  this  further  cri 
terion,  which  may  materially  assist  the  decision :  Does  the  pro 
posed  measure  abridge,  a  pre-existing  right  of  any  State  or  of  any 
individual?  If  it  does  not,  there  is  a  strong  presumption  in  favor 
of  its  constitutionality,  and  slighter  relations  to  any  declared  object 
of  the  Constitution  may  be  permitted  to  turn  the  scale. 

The  general  objections,  which  are  to  be  inferred  from  the  rea 
sonings  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  Attorney- General,  to  the  doc 
trine  which  has  been  advanced,  have  been  stated,  and  it  is  hoped 
satisfactorily  answered.  Those  of  a  more  particular  nature  shall 
now  be  examined. 

The  Secretary  of  State  introduces  his  opinion  with  an  observa 
tion,  that  the  proposed  incorporation  undertakes  to  create  certain 
capacities,  properties,  or  attributes,  which  are  against  the  laws  of 
alienage,  descents,  escheat,  and  forfeiture,  distribution  and  monopoly, 
and  to  confer  a  power  to  make  laws  paramount  to  those  of  the 
States.  And  nothing,  says  he,  in  another  place,  but  necessity, 
invincible  by  other  means,  can  justify  such  a  prostration  of  laws, 


88  HAMILTON  ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  [Feb.  23 

which  constitute  the  pillars  of  our  whole  system  of  jurisprudence, 
and  are  the  foundation  laws  of  the  State  governments.  If  these 
are  truly  the  foundation  laws  of  the  several  States,  then  have  most 
of  them  subverted  their  own  foundations.  For  there  is  scarcely 
one  of  them  which  has  not,  since  the  establishment  of  its  par 
ticular  constitution,  made  material  alterations  in  some  of  those 
branches  of  its  jurisprudence,  especially  the  law  of  descents.  But 
it  is  not  conceived  how  anything  can  be  called  the  fundamental 
law  of  a  State  government  which  is  not  established  in  its  consti 
tution,  unalterable  by  the  ordinary  legislature.  And,  with  regard 
to  the  question  of  necessity,  it  has  been  shown  that  this  can  only 
constitute  a  question  of  expediency,  not  of  right.  .  .  . 

It  is  certainly  not  accurate  to  say,  that  the  erection  of  a  corpo 
ration  is  against  those  different  heads  of  the  State  laws ;  because 
it  is  rather  to  create  a  kind  of  person  or  entity,  to  which  they  are 
inapplicable,  and  to  which  the  general  rule  of  those  laws  assign 
a  different  regimen.  The  laws  of  alienage  cannot  apply  to  an 
artificial  person,  because  it  can  have  no  country ;  those  of  descent 
cannot  apply  to  it,  because  it  can  have  no  heirs ;  those  of  escheat 
are  foreign  from  it,  for  the  same  reason ;  those  of  forfeiture, 
because  it  cannot  commit  a  crime ;  those  of  distribution,  be 
cause,  though  it  may  be  dissolved,  it  cannot  die.  .  .  . 

But  if  it  were  even  to  be  admitted  that  the  erection  of  a  corpo 
ration  is  a  direct  alteration  of  the  stated  laws,  in  the  enumerated 
particulars,  it  would  do  nothing  towards  proving  that  the  measure 
was  unconstitutional.  If  the  government  of  the  United  States  can 
do  no  act  which  amounts  to  an  alteration  of  a  State  law,  all  its 
powers  are  nugatory ;  for  almost  every  new  law  is  an  alteration, 
in  some  way  or  other,  of  an  old  law,  either  common  or  statute.  .  .  . 

It  can  therefore  never  be  good  reasoning  to  say  this  or  that  act 
is  unconstitutional,  because  it  alters  this  or  that  law  of  a  State.  It 
must  be  shown  that  the  act  which  makes  the  alteration  is  uncon 
stitutional  on  other  accounts  ;  not  because  it  makes  the  alteration. 

There  are  two  points  in  the  suggestions  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  which  have  been  noted,  that  are  peculiarly  incorrect.  One 
is,  that  the  proposed  incorporation  is  against  the  laws  of  monopoly, 
because  it  stipulates  an  exclusive  right  of  banking  under  the  na 
tional  authority ;  the  other,  that  it  gives  power  to  the  institution 
to  make  laws  paramount  to  those  of  the  States. 

But,  with  regard  to  the  first  point :   The  bill  neither  prohibits 


i79i]  HAMILTON  ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  89 

any  State  from  erecting  as  many  banks  as  they  please,  nor  any 
number  of  individuals  from  associating  to  carry  on  the  business, 
and  consequently,  is  free  from  the  charge  of  establishing  a  mo 
nopoly  ;  for  monopoly  implies  a  legal  impediment  to  the  carrying 
on  of  the  trade  by  others  than  those  to  whom  it  is  granted. 

And  with  regard  to  the  second  point,  there  is  still  less  founda 
tion.  The  by-laws  of  such  an  institution  as  a  bank  can  operate 
only  on  its  own  members  —  can  only  concern  the  disposition  of 
its  own  property,  and  must  essentially  resemble  the  rules  of  a  pri 
vate  mercantile  partnership.  They  are  expressly  not  to  be  con 
trary  to  law ;  and  law  must  here  mean  the  law  of  a  State,  as  well 
as  of  the  United  States.  There  never  can  be  a  doubt,  that  a  law 
of  a  corporation,  if  contrary  to  a  law  of  a  State,  must  be  overruled 
as  void,  unless  the  law  of  the  State  is  contrary  to  that  of  the  United 
States,  and  then  the  question  will  not  be  between  the  law  of  the 
State  and  that  of  the  corporation,  but  between  the  law  of  the  State 
and  that  of  the  United  States. 

Another  argument  made  use  of  by  the  Secretary  of  State  is,  the 
rejection  of  a  proposition  by  the  Convention  to  empower  Congress 
to  make  corporations,  either  generally,  or  for  some  special  pur 
pose. 

What  was  the  precise  nature  or  extent  of  this  proposition,  or 
what  the  reasons  for  refusing  it,  is  not  ascertained  by  any  authen 
tic  document,  or  even  by  accurate  recollection.  As  far  as  any 
such  document  exists,  it  specifies  only  canals.  ...  It  must  be 
confessed,  however,  that  very  different  accounts  are  given  of  the 
import  of  the  proposition,  and  of  the  motives  for  rejecting  it.  ... 
In  this  state  of  the  matter,  no  inference  whatever  can  be  drawn 
from  it. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  nature  of  the  proposition,  or 
the  reasons  for  rejecting  it,  includes  nothing  in  respect  to  the  real 
merits  of  the  question.  The  Secretary  of  State  will  not  deny,  that, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  a  consti 
tution,  or  of  a  law,  that  intention  is  to  be  sought  for  in  the  in 
strument  itself,  according  to  the  usual  and  established  rules  of 
construction.  Nothing  is  more  common  than  for  laws  to  express 
and  effect  more  or  less  than  was  intended.  If,  then,  a  power  to 
erect  a  corporation  in  any  case  be  deducible,  by  fair  inference, 
from  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  numerous  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  arguments  drawn  from  extrinsic 


90  HAMILTON   ON  A   NATIONAL   BANK  [Feb.  23 

circumstances  regarding  the  intention  of  the  Convention  must  be 
rejected. 

Most  of  the  arguments  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  which  have  not 
been  considered  in  the  foregoing  remarks,  are  of  a  nature  rather 
to  apply  to  the  expediency  than  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  bill. 
They  will,  however,  be  noticed  in  the  discussions  which  will  be 
necessary  in  reference  to  the  particular  heads  of  the  powers  of  the 
government  which  are  involved  in  the  question. 

Those  of  the  Attorney-General  will  now  properly  come  under 
view. 

His  first  objection  is,  that  the  power  of  incorporation  is  not 
expressly  given  to  Congress.  This  shall  be  conceded,  but  in  this 
sense  only,  that  it  is  not  declared  in  express  terms  that  Congress 
may  erect  a  corporation.  But  this  cannot  mean,  that  there  are 
not  certain  express  powers  which  necessarily  include  it.  For 
instance,  Congress  have  express  power  to  exercise  exclusive  leg 
islation,  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  over  such  district  (not  exceeding 
ten  miles  square)  as  may,  by  cession  of  particular  States  and  the 
acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States ;  and  to  exercise  like  authority  over  all  places  pur 
chased,  by  consent  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  in  which  the 
same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of  forts,  arsenals,  dock-yards,  and 
other  needful  buildings.  Here,  then,  is  express  power  to  exercise 
exclusive  legislation,  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  over  certain  places; 
that  is,  to  do,  in  respect  to  those  places,  all  that  any  government 
whatsoever  may  do.  .  .  . 

Surely  it  can  never  be  believed  that  Congress,  with  exclusive 
powers  of  legislation  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  cannot  erect  a  corpo 
ration  within  the  district  which  shall  become  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  for  the  better  regulation  of  its  police.  And  yet  there  is  an 
unqualified  denial  of  the  power  to  erect  corporations  in  every 
case,  on  the  part  both  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  of  the  Attor 
ney-General  •  the  former,  indeed,  speaks  of  that  power  in  these 
emphatical  terms  :  That  it  is  a  right  remaining  exclusively  with  the 
States. 

As  far,  then,  as  there  is  an  express  power  to  do  any  particular 
act  of  legislation,  there  is  an  express  one  to  erect  a  corporation  in 
the  case  above  described.  But,  accurately  speaking,  no  particu 
lar  power  is  more  than  that  implied  in  a  general  one.  Thus  the 
power  to  lay  a  duty  on  a  gallon  of  rum  is  only  a  particular  implied 


1791]  HAMILTON   ON  A  NATIONAL   BANK  91 

in  the  general  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and 
excises.  This  serves  to  explain  in  what  sense  it  may  be  said  that 
Congress  have  not  an  express  power  to  make  corporations.  .  .  . 

Having  observed  that  the  power  of  erecting  corporations  is  not 
expressly  granted  to  Congress,  the  Attorney- General  proceeds 
thus : — 

"  If  it  can  be  exercised  by  them,  it  must  be  — 

"  i .    Because  the  nature  of  the  federal  government  implies  it. 

"  2.  Because  it  is  involved  in  some  of  the  specified  powers  of 
legislation. 

"  3.  Because  it  is  necessary  and  proper  to  carry  into  execution 
some  of  the  specified  powers." 

To  be  implied  in  the  nature  of  the  federal  government,  says  he, 
would  beget  a  doctrine  so  indefinite  as  to  grasp  at  every  power.  .  .  . 

To  this  objection  an  answer  has  been  already  given.  It  is  this, 
that  the  doctrine  is  stated  with  this  express  qualification,  that  the 
right  to  erect  corporations  does  only  extend  to  cases  and  objects 
within  the  sphere  of  the  specified  powers  of  the  government.  A 
general  legislative  authority  implies  a  power  to  erect  corporations 
in  all  cases.  A  particular  legislative  power  implies  authority  to 
erect  corporations  in  relation  to  cases  arising  under  that  power 
only.  Hence  the  affirming  that,  as  incident  to  sovereign  power, 
Congress  may  erect  a  corporation  in  relation  to  the  collection  of 
their  taxes,  is  no  more  than  to  affirm  that  they  may  do  whatever 
else  they  please,  —  than  the  saying  that  they  have  a  power  to 
regulate  trade,  would  be  to  affirm  that  they  have  a  power  to 
regulate  religion ;  or  than  the  maintaining  that  they  have  sov 
ereign  power  as  to  taxation,  would  be  to  maintain  that  they  have 
sovereign  power  as  to  every  thing  else. 

The  Attorney-General  undertakes  in  the  next  place  to  show, 
that  the  power  of  erecting  corporations  is  not  involved  in  any 
of  the  specified  powers  of  legislation  confided  to  the  national 
government.  In  order  to  this,  he  has  attempted  an  enumeration 
of  the  particulars,  .  .  .  The  design  of  which  enumeration  is  to 
show,  what  is  included  under  those  different  heads  of  power,  and 
negatively,  that  the  power  of  erecting  corporations  is  not  included. 

The  truth  of  this  inference  or  conclusion  must  depend  on  the 
accuracy  of  the  enumeration.  If  it  can  be  shown  that  the  enu 
meration  is  defective,  the  inference  is  destroyed.  To  do  this  will 
be  attended  with  no  difficulty. 


92  HAMILTON   ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  [Feb.  23 

The  heads  of  the  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes  are  stated 
to  be  : 

1.  To  stipulate  the  sum  to  be  lent. 

2.  An  interest  or  no  interest  to  be  paid. 

3.  The  time  and  manner  of  repaying,  unless  the  loan  be  placed 
on  an  irredeemable  fund. 

This  enumeration  is  liable  to  a  variety  of  objections.  It  omits 
in  the  first  place,  the  pledging  or  mortgaging  of  a  fund  for  the 
security  of  the  money  lent,  an  usual,  and  in  most  cases  an  essen 
tial  ingredient. 

The  idea  of  a  stipulation  of  an  interest  or  no  interest  is  too 
confined.  It  should  rather  have  been  said,  to  stipulate  the  con 
sideration  of  the  loan.  Individuals  often  borrow  on  considera 
tions  other  than  the  payment  of  interest,  so  may  governments, 
and  so  they  often  find  it  necessary  to  do.  .  .  . 

It  is  also  known  that  a  lottery  is  a  common  expedient  for  bor 
rowing  money,  which  certainly  does  not  fall  under  either  of  the 
enumerated  heads. 

The  heads  of  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign 
nations,  are  stated  to  be  : 

1.  To  prohibit  them  or  their  commodities  from  our  ports. 

2.  To  impose  duties  on  them,  where  none  existed  before,  or  to 
increase  existing  duties  on  them. 

3.  To  subject  them  to  any  species  of  custom-house  regulation. 

4.  To  grant  them  any  exemptions  or  privileges  which  policy 
may  suggest. 

This  enumeration  is  far  more  exceptionable  than  either  of  the 
former.  It  omits  every  thing  that  relates  to  the  citizens'  vessels,  or 
commodities  of  the  United  States. 

The  following  palpable  omissions  occur  at  once  : 

1.  Of  the  power  to  prohibit  the  exportation  of  commodities, 
which  not  only  exists  at  all  times,  but  which  in  time  of  war  it 
would  be  necessary  to  exercise,  particularly  with  relation  to  naval 
and  warlike  stores. 

2.  Of  the  power  to  prescribe  rules  concerning  the  characteris 
tics  and  privileges  of  an  American  bottom ;    how  she    shall   be 
navigated,  or  whether  by  citizens  or  foreigners,  or  by  a  propor 
tion  of  each. 

3.  Of  the  power  of  regulating  the  manner  of  contracting  with 
seamen ;  the  police  of  ships  on  their  voyages,  &c.,  of  which  the 


1 79 1]  HAMILTON  ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  93 

Act  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  seamen,  in  the  mer 
chants'  service,  is  a  specimen. 

That  the  three  preceding  articles  are  omissions,  will  not  be 
doubted  —  there  is  a  long  list  of  items  in  addition,  which  admit 
of  little,  if  any  question,  of  which  a  few  samples  shall  be  given. 

1.  The  granting  of  bounties  to  certain  kinds  of  vessels,  and 
certain  species  of  merchandise  of  this  nature,  is  the  allowance  on 
dried  and  pickled  fish  and  salted  provisions. 

2.  The  prescribing  of  rules  concerning  the  inspection  of  com 
modities    to   be    exported.     Though   the   States  individually  are 
competent  to  this  regulation,  yet  there  is  no  reason,  in  point  of 
authority  at  least,  why  a  general  system  might  not  be  adopted  by 
the  United  States. 

3.  The  regulation  of  policies  of  insurance ;    of  salvage  upon 
goods  found  at  sea,  and  the  disposition  of  such  goods. 

4.  The  regulation  of  pilots. 

5.  The  regulation  of  bills  of  exchange  drawn  by  a  merchant  of 
one  State  upon  a  merchant  of  another  State.     This   last   rather 
belongs  to  the  regulation   of  trade    between   the    States,  but   is 
equally  omitted  in  the  specification  under  that  head. 

The  last  enumeration  relates  to  the  power  to  dispose  of,  and 
make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or 
other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States. 

The  heads  of  this  power  are  said  to  be  : 

1.  To  exert  an   ownership    over   the    territory  of  the  United 
States,  which  may  be  properly  called  the  property  of  the  United 
States,  as  in  the  western  territory,  and  to  institute  a  government 
therein,  or 

2.  To  exert  an  ownership  over  the  other  property  of  the  United 
States. 

The  idea  of  exerting  an  ownership  over  the  territory  or  other 
property  of  the  United  States,  is  particularly  indefinite  and  vague. 
It  does  not  at  all  satisfy  the  conception  of  what  must  have  been 
intended  by  a  power  to  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations,  nor 
would  there  have  been  any  use  for  a  special  clause,  which  author 
ized  nothing  more.  For  the  right  of  exerting  an  ownership  is 
implied  in  the  very  definition  of  property.  It  is  admitted,  that 
in  regard  to  the  western  territory,  something  more  is  intended ; 
even  the  institution  of  a  government,  that  is,  the  creation  of  a 
body  politic,  or  corporation  of  the  highest  nature ;  one  which,  in 


94  HAMILTON   ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  [Feb.  23 

its  maturity,  will  be  able  itself  to  create  other  corporations:  Why, 
then,  does  not  the  same  clause  authorize  the  erection  of  a  corpo 
ration,  in  respect  to  the  regulation  or  disposal  of  any  other  of  the 
property  of  the  United  States  ? 

This  idea  will  be  enlarged  upon  in  another  place. 

Hence  it  appears,  that  the  enumerations  which  have  been 
attempted  by  the  Attorney-General,  are  so  imperfect,  as  to 
authorize  no  conclusion  whatever ;  they  therefore  have  no  ten 
dency  to  disprove  that  each  and  every  of  the  powers,  to  which 
they  relate,  includes  that  of  erecting  corporations,  which  they 
certainly  do,  as  the  subsequent  illustrations  will  more  and  more 
evince. 

It  is  presumed  to  have  been  satisfactorily  shown  in  the  course 
of  the  preceding  observations  : 

1.  That  the  power  of  the  government,  as  to  the  objects  intrusted 
to  its  management,  is,  in  its  nature,  sovereign. 

2.  That  the  right  of  erecting  corporations  is  one  inherent  in, 
and  inseparable  from,  the  idea  of  sovereign  power. 

3.  That  the  position,  that  the  government  of  the  United  States 
can  exercise  no  power  but  such  as  is  delegated  to  it  by  its  Consti 
tution,  does  not  militate  against  this  principle. 

4.  That  the  word  necessary,  in  the  general  clause,  can  have  no 
restrictive  operation  derogating  from  the  force  of  this  principle ; 
indeed,  that  the  degree  in  which  a  measure  is  or  is  not  necessary, 
cannot  be  a  test  of  constitutional  right,  but  of  expediency  only. 

5.  That  the  power  to  erect  corporations  is  not  to  be  considered 
as  an  independent  or  substantive  power,  but  as  an  incidental  and 
auxiliary  one,  and  was  therefore  more  properly  left  to  implica 
tion,  than  expressly  granted. 

6.  That  the  principle  in  question  does  not  extend  the  power 
of  the  government  beyond  the  prescribed  limits,  because  it  only 
affirms  a  power  to  incorporate  for  purposes  within  the  sphere  of 
the  specified  powers. 

And  lastly,  that  the  right  to  exercise  such  a  power  in  certain 
cases  is  unequivocally  granted  in  the  most  positive  and  compre 
hensive  terms.  To  all  which  it  only  remains  to  be  added,  that 
such  a  power  has  actually  been  exercised  in  two  very  eminent 
instances ;  namely,  in  the  erection  of  two  governments ;  one 
northwest  of  the  River  Ohio,  and  the  other  southwest  —  the  last 
independent  of  any  antecedent  compact.  And  these  result  in  a 


1791]  HAMILTON  ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  95 

full  and  complete  demonstration,  that  the  Secretary  of  State  and 
Attorney-General  are  mistaken  when  they  deny  generally  the 
power  of  the  national  government  to  erect  corporations. 

It  shall  now  be  endeavored  to  be  shown  that  there  is  a  power 
to  erect  one  of  the  kind  proposed  by  the  bill.  This  will  be  done 
by  tracing  a  natural  and  obvious  relation  between  the  institution 
of  a  bank  and  the  objects  of  several  of  the  enumerated  powers 
of  the  government ;  and  by  showing  that,  politically  speaking,  it 
is  necessary  to  the  effectual  execution  of  one  or  more  of  those 
powers.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  Accordingly  it  is  affirmed  that  it  has  a  relation,  more  or 
less  direct,  to  the  power  of  collecting  taxes,  to  that  of  borrowing 
money,  to  that  of  regulating  trade  between  the  States,  and  to 
those  of  raising  and  maintaining  fleets  and  armies.  To  the  two 
former  the  relation  may  be  said  to  be  immediate ;  and  in  the 
last  place  it  will  be  argued,  that  it  is  clearly  within  the  provision 
which  authorizes  the  making  of  all  needful  ntles  and  regulations 
concerning  the  property  of  the  United  States,  as  the  same  has 
been  practised  upon  by  the  government. 

A  bank  relates  to  the  collection  of  taxes  in  two  ways  —  indi 
rectly,  by  increasing  the  quantity  of  circulating  medium  and 
quickening  circulation,  which  facilitates  the  means  of  paying 
directly,  by  creating  a  convenient  species  of  medium  in  which 
they  are  to  be  paid.  .  .  . 

A  bank  has  a  direct  relation  to  the  power  of  borrowing  money, 
because  it  is  an  usual,  and  in  sudden  emergencies  an  essential, 
instrument  in  the  obtaining  of  loans  to  government.  .  .  . 

The  institution  of  a  bank  has  also  a  natural  relation  to  the  regu 
lation  of  trade  between  the  States,  in  so  far  as  it  is  conducive  to 
the  creation  of  a  convenient  medium  of  exchange  between  them, 
and  to  the  keeping  up  a  full  circulation,  by  preventing  the  fre 
quent  displacement  of  the  metals  in  reciprocal  remittances. 
Money  is  the  very  hinge  on  which  commerce  turns.  And  this 
does  not  merely  mean  gold  and  silver ;  many  other  things  have 
served  the  purpose,  with  different  degrees  of  utility.  Paper  has 
been  extensively  employed. 

It  cannot,  therefore,  be  admitted,  with  the  Attorney-General, 
that  the  regulation  of  trade  between  the  States,  as  it  concerns 
the  medium  of  circulation  and  exchange,  ought  to  be  considered 
as  confined  to  coin.  It  is  even  supposable  that  the  whole,  or 


96  HAMILTON   ON   A  NATIONAL   BANK  [Feb.  23 

the  greatest  part,  of  the  coin  of  the  country  might  be  carried  out 
of  it.  ... 

The  relation  of  a  bank  to  the  execution  of  the  powers  that 
concern  the  common  defence,  has  been  anticipated.  It  has  been 
noted,  that,  at  this  very  moment,  the  aid  of  such  an  institution  is 
essential  to  the  measures  to  be  pursued  for  the  protection  of  our 
frontiers. 

It  now  remains  to  show,  that  the  incorporation  of  a  bank  is 
within  the  operation  of  the  provision  which  authorizes  Congress 
to  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  concerning  the  property 
of  the  United  States.  But  it  is  previously  necessary  to  advert  to 
a  distinction  which  has  been  taken  by  the  Attorney-General. 

He  admits  that  the  word  property  may  signify  personal  prop 
erty,  however  acquired,  and  yet  asserts  that  it  cannot  signify 
money  arising  from  the  sources  of  revenue  pointed  out  in  the 
Constitution,  "because,"  says  he,  "the  disposal  and  regulation  of 
money  is  the  final  cause  for  raising  it  by  taxes.'' 

But  it  would  be  more  accurate  to  say  that  the  object  to  which 
money  is  intended  to  be  applied  is  the  final  cause  for  raising  it, 
than  that  the  disposal  and  regulation  of  it  is  such. 

The  support  of  government  —  the  support  of  troops  for  the 
common  defence  —  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  are  the  true 
final  causes  for  raising  money.  The  disposition  and  regulation 
of  it,  when  raised,  are  the  steps  by  which  it  is  applied  to  the  ends 
for  which  it  was  raised,  not  the  ends  themselves.  Hence,  there 
fore,  the  money  to  be  raised  by  taxes,  as  well  as  any  other  per 
sonal  property,  must  be  supposed  to  come  within  the  meaning,  as 
they  certainly  do  within  the  letter,  of  authority  to  make  all  need 
ful  rules  and  regulations  concerning  the  property  of  the  United 
States.  .  .  . 

It  is  admitted,  that  with  regard  to  the  western  territory  they 
give  a  power  to  erect  a  corporation  —  that  is,  to  institute  a 
government ;  and  by  what  rule  of  construction  can  it  be  main 
tained,  that  the  same  words  in  a  constitution  of  government  will 
not  have  the  same  effect  when  applied  to  one  species  of  property 
as  to  another,  as  far  as  the  subject  is  capable  of  it?  —  Or  that  a 
legislative  power  to  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations,  or  to 
pass  all  laws  necessary  and  proper,  concerning  the  public  prop 
erty,  which  is  admitted  to  authorize  an  incorporation  in  one  case, 
will  not  authorize  it  in  another  ?  —  will  justify  the  institution  of  a 


1 79 1]  HAMILTON  ON  A  NATIONAL  BANK  97 

government  over  the  western  territory,  and  will  not  justify  the 
incorporation  of  a  bank  for  the  more  useful  management  of  the 
moneys  of  the  United  States  ?  If  it  will  do  the  last,  as  well  as 
the  first,  then,  under  this  provision  alone,  the  bill  is  constitutional, 
because  it  contemplates  that  the  United  States  shall  be  joint  pro 
prietors  of  the  stock  of  the  bank. 

There  is  an  observation  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  this  effect, 
which  may  require  notice  in  this  place  : — Congress,  says  he,  are 
not  to  lay  taxes  ad  libitum,  for  any  purpose  they  please,  but  only  to 
pay  the  debts  or  .provide  for  the  welfare  of  the  Union.  Certainly 
no  inference  can  be  drawn  from  this  against  the  power  of  applying 
their  money  for  the  institution  of  a  bank.  It  is  true  that  they 
cannot  without  breach  of  trust  lay  taxes  for  any  other  purpose 
than  the  general  welfare ;  but  so  neither  can  any  other  govern 
ment.  The  welfare  of  the  community  is  the  only  legitimate  end 
for  which  money  can  be  raised  on  the  community.  Congress  can 
be  considered  as  under  only  one  restriction  which  does  not  apply 
to  other  governments,  —  they  cannot  rightfully  apply  the  money 
they  raise  to  any  purpose  merely  or  purely  local.  But,  with  this 
exception,  they  have  as  large  a  discretion  in  relation  to  the  appli 
cation  of  money  as  any  legislature  whatever.  The  constitutional 
test  of  a  right  application  must  always  be,  whether  it  be  for  a 
purpose  of  general  or  local  nature.  If  the  former,  there  can  be 
no  want  of  constitutional  power.  The  quality  of  the  object,  as 
how  far  it  will  really  promote  or  not  the  welfare  of  the  Union, 
must  be  matter  of  conscientious  discretion,  and  the  arguments 
for  or  against  a  measure  in  this  light  must  be  arguments  concern 
ing  expediency  or  inexpediency,  not  constitutional  right.  What 
ever  relates  to  the  general  order  of  the  finances,  to  the  general 
interests  of  trade,  &c.,  being  general  objects,  are  constitutional  ones 
for  the  application  of  money. 

A  bank,  then,  whose  bills  are  to  circulate  in  all  the  revenues  of 
the  country,  is  evidently  a  general  object,  and,  for  that  very  reason, 
a  constitutional  one,  as  far  as  regards  the  appropriation  of  money 
to  it.  Whether  it  will  really  be  a  beneficial  one  or  not,  is  worthy 
of  careful  examination,  but  is  no  more  a  constitutional  point,  in 
the  particular  referred  to,  than  the  question,  whether  the  western 
lands  shall  be  sold  for  twenty  or  thirty  cents  per  acre. 

A  hope  is  entertained  that  it  has,  by  this  time,  been  made  to 
appear,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  President,  that  a  bank  has  a  natural 

H 


98  REPORT  ON   MANUFACTURES  [Dec.  5 

relation  to  the  power  of  collecting  taxes  —  to  that  of  regulating 
trade  —  to  that  of  providing  for  the  common  defence  —  and  that, 
as  the  bill  under  consideration  contemplates  the  government  in 
the  light  of  a  joint  proprietor  of  the  stock  of  the  bank,  it  brings 
the  case  within  the  provision  of  the  clause  of  the  Constitution 
which  immediately  respects  the  property  of  the  United  States. 

Under  a  conviction  that  such  a  relation  subsists,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  with  all  deference,  conceives,  that  it  will  result  as 
a  necessary  consequence  from  the  position,  that  all  the  specified 
powers  of  government  are  sovereign,  as  to  the  proper  objects  ; 
that  the  incorporation  of  a  bank  is  a  constitutional  measure  ; 
and  that  the  objections  taken  to  the  bill,  in  this  respect,  are  ill- 
founded.  .  .  . 


No.  1  2.     Hamilton's    Report    on    Manufactures 

December  5,  1791 

JANUARY  8,  1790,  in  his  address  to  Congress,  Washington  recommended 
early  provision  for  the  defence  of  the  country,  and  urged  the  "  promotion  of 
such  manufactories  "  as  would  render  the  United  States  "  independent  of  others 
for  essential,  particularly  for  military,  supplies."  On  the  I5th,  this  part  of  the 
address  was  referred  by  the  House  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  with 
instructions  to  prepare  a  plan  in  conformity  to  the  recommendations  of  the 
President.  The  resulting  report  on  manufactures  —  "  the  strongest  presenta 
tion  of  the  case  for  protection  which  has  been  made  by  any  American  states 
man"  —  was  not  sent  in  until  Dec.  5,  1791.  January  23  it  was  committed  to 
the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  for  the  3Oth,  but  no  further  action  in 
regard  to  it  seems  to  have  been  taken.  The  report  paved  the  way,  however, 
for  Hamilton's  report  of  March  16,  1792,  recommending  an  increase  of  duties 
to  meet  the  expense  of  additional  troops  for  the  defence  of  the  frontier;  and 
the  act  of  May  2,  1  792,  followed  in  the  main  his  suggestions. 

The  report  on  manufactures  is  very  long.  The  extracts  following  show  only 
the  outline  of  the  argument. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Finance,  I.,  123-144.  For  the 
report  of  March  16,  1792,  see  ib.,  I.,  158-161.  The  act  of  May  2,  1792,  is  in 
U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  I.,  259-263. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  obedience  to  the  order  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  i5th  day  of  January,  1790, 
has  applied  his  attention,  at  as  early  a  period  as  his  other  duties 
would  permit,  to  the  subject  of  Manufactures,  and  particularly  to 
the  means  of  promoting  such  as  will  tend  to  render  the  United 
States  independent  on  foreign  nations,  for  military  and  other  es- 


1 791]  REPORT  ON  MANUFACTURES  99 

sential  supplies ;  and  he  thereupon  respectfully  submits  the  follow 
ing  report : 

The  expediency  of  encouraging  manufactures  in  the  United 
States,  which  was  not  long  since  deemed  very  questionable,  ap 
pears  at  this  time  to  be  pretty  generally  admitted.  The  embar 
rassments  which  have  obstructed  the  progress  of  our  external 
trade,  have  led  to  serious  reflections  on  the  necessity  of  enlarging 
the  sphere  of  our  domestic  commerce.  The  restrictive  regu 
lations,  which,  in  foreign  markets,  abridge  the  vent  of  the  increas 
ing  surplus  of  our  agricultural  produce,  serve  to  beget  an  earnest 
desire,  that  a  more  extensive  demand  for  that  surplus  may  be 
created  at  home ;  and  the  complete  success  which  has  rewarded 
manufacturing  enterprise,  in  some  valuable  branches,  conspiring 
with  the  promising  symptoms  which  attend  some  less  mature  es 
says  in  others,  justify  a  hope,  that  the  obstacles  to  the  growth  of 
this  species  of  industry  are  less  formidable  than  they  were  appre 
hended  to  be ;  and  that  it  is  not  difficult  to  find,  in  its  further 
extension,  a  full  indemnification  for  any  external  disadvantages, 
which  are  or  may  be  experienced,  as  well  as  an  accession  of  re 
sources,  favorable  to  national  independence  and  safety. 

There  still  are,  nevertheless,  respectable  patrons  of  opinions 
unfriendly  to  the  encouragement  of  manufactures.  The  following 
are,  substantially,  the  arguments  by  which  these  opinions  are  de 
fended. 

"  In  every  country,  (say  those  who  entertain  them)  agriculture 
is  the  most  beneficial  and  productive  object  of  human  industry. 
This  position,  generally,  if  not  universally  true,  applies  with  pecul 
iar  emphasis  to  the  United  States,  on  account  of  their  immense 
tracts  of  fertile  territory,  uninhabited  and  unimproved.  Nothing 
can  afford  so  advantageous  an  employment  for  capital  and  labor, 
as  the  conversion  of  this  extensive  wilderness  into  cultivated  farms. 
Nothing,  equally  with  this,  can  contribute  to  the  population, 
strength,  and  real  riches  of  the  country. 

"  To  endeavor,  by  the  extraordinary  patronage  of  government, 
to  accelerate  the  growth  of  manufactures,  is,  in  fact,  to  endeavor, 
by  force  and  art,  to  transfer  the  natural  current  of  industry  from 
a  more  to  a  less  beneficial  channel.  Whatever  has  such  a  ten 
dency,  must  necessarily  be  unwise  ;  indeed,  it  can  hardly  ever  be 
wise  in  a  government  to  attempt  to  give  a  direction  to  the  industry 


100  REPORT   ON   MANUFACTURES  [Dec.  5 

of  its  citizens.  This,  under  the  quick-sighted  guidance  of  private 
interest,  will,  if  left  to  itself,  infallibly  find  its  own  way  to  the  most 
profitable  employment ;  and  it  is  by  such  employment,  that  the 
public  prosperity  will  be  most  effectually  promoted.  To  leave  in 
dustry  to  itself,  therefore,  is,  in  almost  every  case,  the  soundest 
as  well  as  the  simplest  policy. 

"  This  policy  is  not  only  recommended  to  the  United  States  by 
considerations  which  affect  all  nations ;  it  is,  in  a  manner,  dictated 
to  them  by  the  imperious  force  of  a  very  peculiar  situation.  The 
smallness  of  their  population  compared  with  their  territory ;  the 
constant  allurements  to  emigration  from  the  settled  to  the  un 
settled  parts  of  the  country ;  the  facility  with  which  the  less  inde 
pendent  condition  of  an  artisan  can  be  exchanged  for  the  more 
independent  condition  of  a  farmer;  these,  and  similar  causes, 
conspire  to  produce,  and,  for  a  length  of  time,  must  continue  to 
occasion,  a  scarcity  of  hands  for  manufacturing  occupation,  and 
dearness  of  labor  generally.  To  these  disadvantages  for  the  prose 
cution  of  manufactures,  a  deficiency  of  pecuniary  capital  being 
added,  the  prospect  of  a  successful  competition  with  the  manu 
factures  of  Europe,  must  be  regarded  as  little  less  than  desperate. 
Extensive  manufactures  can  only  be  the  offspring  of  a  redundant, 
at  least  of  a  full  population.  Till  the  latter  shall  characterize  the 
situation  of  this  country,  'tis  vain  to  hope  for  the  former. 

"  If,  contrary  to  the  natural  course  of  things,  an  unseasonable 
and  premature  spring  can  be  given  to  certain  fabrics,  by  heavy 
duties,  prohibitions,  bounties,  or  by  other  forced  expedients,  this 
will  only  be  to  sacrifice  the  interests  of  the  community  to  those  of 
particular  classes.  Besides  the  misdirection  of  labor,  a  virtual 
monopoly  will  be  given  to  the  persons  employed  on  such  fabrics ; 
and  an  enhancement  of  price,  the  inevitable  consequence  of  every 
monopoly,  must  be  defrayed  at  the  expense  of  the  other  parts  of 
the  society.  It  is  far  preferable,  that  those  persons  should  be  en 
gaged  in  the  cultivation  of  the  earth,  and  that  we  should  procure, 
in  exchange  for  its  productions,  the  commodities  with  which 
foreigners  are  able  to  supply  us  in  greater  perfection,  and  upon 
better  terms." 

This  mode  of  reasoning  is  founded  upon  facts  and  principles 
which  have  certainly  respectable  pretensions.  If  it  had  governed 
the  conduct  of  nations  more  generally  than  it  has  done,  there  is 
room  to  suppose  that  it  might  have  carried  them  faster  to  pros- 


1 79i]  REPORT  ON   MANUFACTURES  JOY 

parity  and  greatness  than  they  have  attained  by  the  pursuit  of 
maxims  too  widely  opposite.  Most  general  theories,  however,  ad 
mit  of  numerous  exceptions,  and  there  are  few,  if  any,  of  the 
political  kind,  which  do  not  blend  a  considerable  portion  of  error 
with  the  truths  they  inculcate. 

In  order  to  an  accurate  judgment  how  far  that  which  has  been 
just  stated  ought  to  be  deemed  liable  to  a  similar  imputation,  it 
is  necessary  to  advert  carefully  to  the  considerations  which  plead 
in  favor  of  manufactures,  and  which  appear  to  recommend  the 
special  and  positive  encouragement  of  them  in  certain  cases,  and 
under  certain  reasonable  limitations. 

It  ought  readily  to  be  conceded  that  the  cultivation  of  the 
earth,  as  the  primary  and  most  certain  source  of  national  supply ; 
as  the  immediate  and  chief  source  of  subsistence  to  man ;  as  the 
principal  source  of  those  materials  which  constitute  the  nutriment 
of  other  kinds  of  labor ;  as  including  a  state  most  favorable  to  the 
freedom  and  independence  of  the  human  mind,  —  one,  perhaps, 
most  conducive  to  the  multiplication  of  the  human  species ;  has 
intrinsically  a  strong  claim  to  pre-eminence  over  every  other  kind 
of  industry. 

But,  that  it  has  a  title  to  anything  like  an  exclusive  predilection, 
in  any  country,  ought  to  be  admitted  with  great  caution ;  that  it 
is  even  more  productive  than  every  other  branch  of  industry,  re 
quires  more  evidence  than  has  yet  been  given  in  support  of  the 
position.  That  its  real  interests,  precious  and  important  as,  with 
out  the  help  of  exaggeration,  they  truly  are,  will  be  advanced, 
rather  than  injured,  by  the  due  encouragement  of  manufactures, 
may,  it  is  believed,  be  satisfactorily  demonstrated.  And  it  is  also 
believed,.that  the  expediency  of  such  encouragement,  in  a  general 
view,  may  be  shown  to  be  recommended  by  the  most  cogent  and 
persuasive  motives  of  national  policy. 

It  has  been  maintained,  that  agriculture  is  not  only  the  most 
productive,  but  the  only  productive  species  of  industry.  The  re 
ality  of  this  suggestion,  in  either  respect,  has,  however,  not  been 
verified  by  any  accurate  detail  of  facts  and  calculations ;  and  the 
general  arguments  which  are  adduced  to  prove  it,  are  rather  sub 
tile  and  paradoxical,  than  solid  or  convincing.  .  .  . 

But,  while  the  exclusive  productiveness  of  agricultural  labor  has 
been  thus  denied  and  refuted,  the  superiority  of  its  productiveness 
has  been  conceded  without  hesitation.  As  this  concession  involves 


-102  REPORT   ON   MANUFACTURES  [Dec.  5 

a  point  of  considerable  magnitude,  in  relation  to  maxims  of  public 
administration,  the  grounds  on  which  it  rests  are  worthy  of  a  dis 
tinct  and  particular  examination. 

One  of  the  arguments  made  use  of  in  support  of  the  idea,  may 
be  pronounced  both  quaint  and  superficial.  It  amounts  to  this : 
That,  in  the  productions  of  the  soil,  nature  co-operates  with  man ; 
and  that  the  effect  of  their  joint  labor  must  be  greater  than  that 
of  the  labor  of  man  alone.  .  .  . 

Another,  and  that  which  seems  to  be  the  principal  argument 
offered  for  the  superior  productiveness  of  agricultural  labor,  turns 
upon  the  allegation,  that  labor  employed  on  manufactures,  yields 
nothing  equivalent  to  the  rent  of  land  ;  or  to  that  nett  surplus,  as  it 
is  called,  which  accrues  to  the  proprietor  of  the  soil. 

But  this  distinction,  important  as  it  has  been  deemed,  appears 
rather  verbal  than  substantial.  .  .  . 

The  foregoing  suggestions  are  not  designed  to  inculcate  an 
opinion  that  manufacturing  industry  is  more  productive  than  that 
of  agriculture.  They  are  intended  rather  to  show  that  the  reverse 
of  this  proposition  is  not  ascertained  ;  that  the  general  arguments, 
which  are  brought  to  establish  it,  are  not  satisfactory ;  and  conse 
quently,  that  a  supposition  of  the  superior  productiveness  of  tillage 
ought  to  be  no  obstacle  to  listening  to  any  substantial  inducements 
to  the  encouragement  of  manufactures,  which  may  be  otherwise  per 
ceived  to  exist,  through  an  apprehension  that  they  may  have  a  ten 
dency  to  divert  labor  from  a  more  to  a  less  profitable  employment. 

It  is  extremely  probable,  that,  on  a  full  and  accurate  develop 
ment  of  the  matter,  on  the  ground  of  fact  and  calculation,  it 
would  be  discovered  that  there  is  no  material  difference  between 
the  aggregate  productiveness  of  the  one,  and  of  the  other  kind 
of  industry ;  and  that  the  propriety  of  the  encouragements,  which 
may,  in  any  case,  be  proposed  to  be  given  to  either,  ought  to  be 
determined  upon  considerations  irrelative  to  any  comparison  of 
that  nature.  .  .  . 

It  is  now  proper  to  proceed  a  step  further,  and  to  enumerate 
the  principal  circumstances  from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that 
manufacturing  establishments  not  only  occasion  a  positive  augmen 
tation  of  the  produce  and  revenue  of  the  society,  but  that  they 
contribute  essentially  to  rendering  them  greater  than  they  could 
possibly  be,  without  such  establishments.  These  circumstances 
are: 


I79i]  REPORT  ON  MANUFACTURES  IO3 

1.  The  division  of  labor. 

2.  An  extension  of  the  use  of  machinery. 

3.  Additional   employment  to  classes  of  the   community  not 
ordinarily  engaged  in  the  business. 

4.  The  promoting  of  emigration  from  foreign  countries. 

5.  The  furnishing  greater  scope  for  the  diversity  of  talents  and 
dispositions,  which  discriminate  men  from  each  other. 

6.  The  affording  a  more  ample  and  various  field  for  enterprise. 

7.  The  creating,  in  some  instances,  a  new,  and  securing,  in  all, 
a  more  certain  and  steady  demand  for  the  surplus  produce  of  the 
soil.  .  .  . 

The  foregoing  considerations  seem  sufficient  to  establish,  as 
general  propositions,  that  it  is  the  interest  of  nations  to  diversify 
the  industrious  pursuits  of  the  individuals  who  compose  them. 
That  the  establishment  of  manufactures  is  calculated  not  only  to 
increase  the  general  stock  of  useful  and  productive  labor,  but  even 
to  improve  the  state  of  agriculture  in  particular ;  certainly  to  ad 
vance  the  interests  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  it.  There  are 
other  views  that  will  be  hereafter  taken  of  the  subject,  which  it  is 
conceived  will  serve  to  confirm  these  inferences. 

III.  Previously  to  a  further  discussion  of  the  objections  to  the 
encouragement  of  manufactures,  which  have  been  stated,  it  will 
be  of  use  to  see  what  can  be  said  in  reference  to  the  particular 
situation  of  the  United  States,  against  the  conclusions  appearing 
to  result  from  what  has  been  already  offered. 

It  may  be  observed,  and  the  idea  is  of  no  inconsiderable 
weight,  that,  however  true  it  might  be,  that  a  State  which,  pos 
sessing  large  tracts  of  vacant  and  fertile  territory,  was,  at  the  same 
time,  secluded  from  foreign  commerce,  would  find  its  interest  and 
the  interest  of  agriculture,  in  diverting  a  part  of  its  population 
from  tillage  to  manufactures ;  yet  it  will  not  follow,  that  the  same 
is  true  of  a  State  which,  having  such  vacant  and  fertile  territory, 
has,  at  the  same  time,  ample  opportunity  of  procuring  from 
abroad,  on  good  terms,  all  the  fabrics  of  which  it  stands  in  need, 
for  the  supply  of  its  inhabitants.  The  power  of  doing  this,  at 
least  secures  the  great  advantage  of  a  division  of  labor,  leav 
ing  the  farmer  free  to  pursue,  exclusively,  the  culture  of  his 
land,  and  enabling  him  to  procure  with  its  products  the  manu 
factured  supplies  requisite  either  to  his  wants  or  to  his  enjoy 
ments.  . 


104  REPORT  ON   MANUFACTURES  [Dec.  5 

To  these  observations,  the  following  appears  to  be  a  satisfactory 
answer : 

i  st.  If  the  system  of  perfect  liberty  to  industry  and  commerce 
were  the  prevailing  system  of  nations,  the  arguments  which  dis 
suade  a  country,  in  the  predicament  of  the  United  States,  from 
the  zealous  pursuit  of  manufactures,  would  doubtless  have  great 
force*  .  .  . 

But  the  system  which  has  been  mentioned,  is  far  from  charac 
terizing  the  general  policy  of  nations.  The  prevalent  one  has 
been  regulated  by  an  opposite  spirit.  The  consequence  of  it  is, 
that  the  United  States  are,  to  a  certain  extent,  in  the  situation  of 
a  country  precluded  from  foreign  commerce.  They  can  indeed, 
without  difficulty,  obtain  from  abroad  the  manufactured  supplies 
of  which  they  are  in  want ;  but  they  experience  numerous  and 
very  injurious  impediments  to  the  emission  and  vent  of  their  own 
commodities.  .  .  . 

In  such  a  position  of  things,  the  United  States  cannot  exchange 
with  Europe  on  equal  terms ;  and  the  want  of  reciprocity  would 
render  them  the  victim  of  a  system  which  should  induce  them 
to  confine  their  views  to  agriculture,  and  refrain  from  manufact 
ures.  .  .  . 

2d.  The  conversion  of  their  waste  into  cultivated  lands,  is  cer 
tainly  a  point  of  great  moment,  in  the  political  calculations  of  the 
United  States.  But  the  degree  in  which  this  may  possibly  be  re 
tarded,  by  the  encouragement  of  manufactories,  does  not  appear 
to  countervail  the  powerful  inducements  to  affording  that  en 
couragement.  .  .  . 

The  remaining  objections  to  a  particular  encouragement  of 
manufactures  in  the  United  States,  now  require  to  be  examined. 

One  of  these  turns  on  the  proposition,  that  industry,  if  left  to 
itself,  will  naturally  find  its  way  to  the  most  useful  and  profitable 
employment.  Whence  it  is  inferred,  that  manufactures,  without 
the  aid  of  government,  will  grow  up  as  soon  and  as  fast  as  the 
natural  state  of  things  and  the  interest  of  the  community  may 
require. 

Against  the  solidity  of  this  hypothesis,  in  the  full  latitude  of  the 
terms,  very  cogent  reasons  may  be  offered.  These  have  relation 
to  the  strong  influence  of  habit  and  the  spirit  of  imitation ;  the 
fear  of  want  of  success  in  untried  enterprises  ;  the  intrinsic  diffi 
culties  incident  to  first  essays  towards  a  competition  with  those 


1790  REPORT  ON   MANUFACTURES  105 

who  have  previously  attained  to  perfection  in  the  business  to  be 
attempted  ;  the  bounties,  premiums,  and  other  artificial  encourage 
ments,  with  which  foreign  nations  second  the  exertions  of  their 
own  citizens,  in  the  branches  in  which  they  are  to  be  rivalled.  .  .  . 

Whatever  room  there  may  be  for  an  expectation,  that  the  in 
dustry  of  a  people,  under  the  direction  of  private  interest,  will, 
upon  equal  terms,  find  out  the  most  beneficial  employment  for 
itself,  there  is  none  for  a  reliance,  that  it  will  struggle  against  the 
force  of  unequal  terms,  or  will,  of  itself,  surmount  all  the  adven 
titious  barriers  to  a  successful  competition,  which  may  have  been 
erected,  either  by  the  advantages  naturally  acquired  by  practice, 
and  previous  possession  of  the  ground,  or  by  those  which  may 
have  sprung  from  positive  regulations  and  an  artificial  policy. 
This  general  reflection  might  alone  suffice  as  an  answer  to  the  ob 
jection  under  examination,  exclusively  of  the  weighty  considera 
tions  which  have  been  particularly  urged. 

The  objections  to  the  pursuit  of  manufactures  in  the  United 
States,  which  next  present  themselves  to  discussion,  represent  an 
impracticability  of  success,  arising  from  three  causes :  scarcity  of 
hands,  dearness  of  labor,  want  of  capital. 

The  two  first  circumstances  are,  to  a  certain  extent,  real ;  and, 
within  due  limits,  ought  to  be  admitted  as  obstacles  to  the  success 
of  manufacturing  enterprise  in  the  United  States.  But  there  are 
various  considerations  which  lessen  their  force,  and  tend  to  afford 
an  assurance,  that  they  are  not  sufficient  to  prevent  the  advan 
tageous  prosecution  of  many  very  useful  and  extensive  manu 
factories.  .  .  . 

It  may  be  affirmed  ...  in  respect  to  hands  for  carrying  on 
manufactures,  that  we  shall,  in  a  great  measure,  trade  upon  a 
foreign  stock,  reserving  our  own  for  the  cultivation  of  our  lands 
and  the  manning  of  our  ships,  as  far  as  character  and  circum 
stances  shall  incline.  It  is  not  unworthy  of  remark,  that  the  ob 
jection  to  the  success  of  manufactures,  deduced  from  the  scarcity 
of  hands,  is  alike  applicable  to  trade  and  navigation,  and  yet  these 
are  perceived  to  flourish,  without  any  sensible  impediment  from 
that  cause. 

As  to  the  dearness  of  labor,  (another  of  the  obstacles  alleged) 
this  has  relation  principally  to  two  circumstances  :  one,  that  which 
has  been  just  discussed,  or  the  scarcity  of  hands ;  the  other,  the 
greatness  of  profits. 


106  REPORT  ON   MANUFACTURES  [Dec.  5 

As  far  as  it  is  a  consequence  of  the  scarcity  of  hands,  it  is  miti 
gated  by  all  the  considerations  which  have  been  adduced  as  les 
sening  that  deficiency.  .  .  . 

So  far  as  the  dearness  of  labor  may  be  a  consequence  of  the 
greatness  of  profits  in  any  branch  of  business,  it  is  no  obstacle  to 
its  success.  The  undertaker  can  afford  to  pay  the  price. 

There  are  grounds  to  conclude,  that  undertakers  of  manufact 
ures  in  this  country,  can,  at  this  time,  afford  to  pay  higher  wages 
to  the  workmen  they  may  employ,  than  are  paid  to  similar  work 
men  in  Europe.  .  .  . 

The  supposed  want  of  capital  for  the  prosecution  of  manufact 
ures  in  the  United  States,  is  the  most  indefinite  of  the  objections 
which  are  usually  opposed  to  it.  ... 

It  is  not  obvious  why  the  same  objection  might  not  as  well  be 
made  to  external  commerce  as  to  manufactures  :  since  it  is  mani 
fest,  that  our  immense  tracts  of  land,  occupied  and  unoccupied, 
are  capable  of  giving  employment  to  more  capital  than  is  actually 
bestowed  on  them.  It  is  certain  that  the  United  States  offer  a 
vast  field  for  the  advantageous  employment  of  capital ;  but  it  does 
not  follow  that  there  will  not  be  found,  in  one  way  or  another,  a 
sufficient  fund  for  the  successful  prosecution  of  any  species  of  in 
dustry  which  is  likely  to  prove  truly  beneficial.  .  .  . 

To  all  the  arguments  which  are  brought  to  evince  the  impracti 
cability  of  success  in  manufacturing  establishments  in  the  United 
States,  it  might  have  been  a  sufficient  answer  to  have  referred  to 
the  experience  of  what  has  been  already  done.  It  is  certain  that 
several  important  branches  have  grown  up  and  flourished,  with  a 
rapidity  which  surprises,  affording  an  encouraging  assurance  of 
success  in  future  attempts.  Of  these  it  may  not  be  improper  to 
enumerate  the  most  considerable  : 

1 .  Of  Skins.  —  Tanned  and  tawed  leather,  dressed  skins,  shoes, 
boots,  and  slippers,  harness  and  saddlery  of  all  kinds,  portmanteaux 
and  trunks,  leather  breeches,  gloves,  muffs,  and  tippets,  parchment 
and  glue. 

2.  Of  Iron.  —  Bar  and  sheet  iron,  steel,  nail  rods  and  nails,  im 
plements  of  husbandry,  stoves,  pots,  and  other  household  utensils, 
the  steel  and  iron  work  of  carriages,  and  for  ship  building,  anchors, 
scale  beams  and  weights,  and  various  tools  of  artificers,  arms  of 
different  kinds ;  though  the  manufacture  of  these  last  has  of  late 
diminished  for  want  of  demand. 


I79i]  REPORT  ON   MANUFACTURES  IO/ 

3.  Of  Wood.  —  Ships,  cabinet  wares,  and  turnery,  wool  and  cot 
ton  cards,  and  other  machinery  for  manufactures  and  husbandry, 
mathematical  instruments,  coopers'  wares  of  every  kind. 

4.  Of  Flax  and  Hemp.  —  Cables,  sail  cloth,  cordage,  twine,  and 
pack  thread. 

5.  Bricks  and  coarse  tiles,  and  potters'  wares. 

6.  Ardent  spirits  and  malt  liquors. 

7.  Writing  and  printing  paper,  sheathing  and  wrapping  paper, 
paste  boards,  fullers'  or  press  papers,  paper  hangings. 

8.  Hats  of  fur  and  wool,  and  of  mixtures  of  both ;  women's 
stuff  and  silk  shoes. 

9.  Refined  sugars. 

10.  Oils  of  animals  and  seeds,  soap,  spermaceti  and  tallow  can 
dles. 

1 1 .  Copper  and  brass  wares,  particularly  utensils  for  distillers, 
sugar  refiners,  and  brewers  ;  andirons  and  other  articles  for  house 
hold  use,  philosophical  apparatus. 

12.  Tin  wares  for  most  purposes  of  ordinary  use. 

13.  Carriages  of  all  kinds. 

14.  Snuff,  chewing  and  smoking  tobacco. 

15.  Starch  and  hair-powder. 

1 6.  Lampblack,  and  other  painters'  colors. 

17.  Gunpowder. 

Besides  manufactories  of  these  articles,  which  are  carried  on  as 
regular  trades,  and  have  attained  to  a  considerable  degree  of 
maturity,  there  is  a  vast  scene  of  household  manufacturing,  which 
contributes  more  largely  to  the  supply  of  the  community  than 
could  be  imagined,  without  having  made  it  an  object  of  particular 
inquiry.  This  observation  is  the  pleasing  result  of  the  investiga 
tion  to  which  the  subject  of  this  report  has  led,  and  is  applicable 
as  well  to  the  Southern  as  to  the  Middle  and  Northern  States. 
Great  quantities  of  coarse  cloths,  coatings,  serges,  and  flannels, 
linsey  woolseys,  hosiery  of  wool,  cotton,  and  thread,  coarse  fus 
tians,  jeans,  and  muslins,  checked  and  striped  cotton  and  linen 
goods,  bed  ticks,  coverlets  and  counterpanes,  tow  linens,  coarse 
shirtings,  sheetings,  towelling,  and  table  linen,  and  various  mixtures 
of  wool  and  cotton,  and  of  cotton  and  flax,  are  made  in  the  house 
hold  way,  and,  in  many  instances,  to  an  extent  not  only  sufficient 
for  the  supply  of  the  families  in  which  they  are  made,  but  for  sale, 
and,  even,  in  some  cases,  for  exportation.  It  is  computed  in  a 


108  REPORT  ON   MANUFACTURES  [Dec.  5 

number  of  districts  that  two-thirds,  three-fourths,  and  even  four- 
fifths,  of  all  the  clothing  of  the  inhabitants,  are  made  by  them 
selves.  The  importance  of  so  great  a  progress  as  appears  to  have 
been  made  in  family  manufactures,  within  a  few  years,  both  in  a 
moral  and  political  view,  renders  the  fact  highly  interesting.  .  .  . 

There  remains  to  be  noticed  an  objection  to  the  encouragement 
of  manufactures,  of  a  nature  different  from  those  which  question 
the  probability  of  success.  This  is  derived  from  its  supposed  ten 
dency  to  give  a  monopoly  of  advantages  to  particular  classes,  at 
the  expense  of  the  rest  of  the  community,  who,  it  is  affirmed, 
would  be  able  to  procure  the  requisite  supplies  of  manufactured 
articles  on  better  terms  from  foreigners  than  from  our  own  citi 
zens;  and  who,  it  is  alleged,  are  reduced  to  necessity  of  paying 
an  enhanced  price  for  whatever  they  want,  by  every  measure  which 
obstructs  the  free  competition  of  foreign  commodities. 

It  is  not  an  unreasonable  supposition,  that  measures  which  serve 
to  abridge  the  free  competition  of  foreign  articles,  have  a  tendency 
to  occasion  an  enhancement  of  prices ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  denied 
that  such  is  the  effect,  in  a  number  of  cases ;  but  the  fact  does 
not  uniformly  correspond  with  the  theory.  A  reduction  of  prices 
has,  in  several  instances,  immediately  succeeded  the  establishment 
of  a  domestic  manufacture.  Whether  it  be  that  foreign  manu 
facturers  endeavor  to  supplant,  by  underselling  our  own,  or  what 
ever  else  be  the  cause,  the  effect  has  been  such  as  is  stated,  and 
the  reverse  of  what  might  have  been  expected. 

But,  though  it  were  true  that  the  immediate  and  certain  effect 
of  regulations  controlling  the  competition  of  foreign  with  domestic 
fabrics,  was  an  increase  of  price,  it  is  universally  true  that  the 
contrary  is  the  ultimate  effect  with  every  successful  manufacture. 
When  a  domestic  manufacture  has  attained  to  perfection,  and  has 
engaged  in  the  prosecution  of  it  a  competent  number  of  persons, 
it  invariably  becomes  cheaper.  Being  free  from  the  heavy  charges 
which  attend  the  importation  of  foreign  commodities,  it  can  be 
afforded,  and  accordingly  seldom  or  never  fails  to  be  sold,  cheaper, 
in  process  of  time,  than  was  the  foreign  article  for  which  it  is  a 
substitute.  The  internal  competition  which  takes  place,  soon  does 
away  every  thing  like  monopoly,  and  by  degrees  reduces  the  price 
of  the  article  to  the  minimum  of  a  reasonable  profit  on  the  capi 
tal  employed.  This  accords  with  the  reason  of  the  thing,  and 
with  experience. 


1 79 1]  REPORT  ON   MANUFACTURES  1 09 

Whence  it  follows,  that  it  is  the  interest  of  a  community,  with 
a  view  to  eventual  and  permanent  economy,  to  encourage  the 
growth  of  manufactures.  In  a  national  view,  a  temporary  en 
hancement  of  price  must  always  be  well  compensated  by  a  per 
manent  reduction  of  it.  ... 

The  objections  which  are  commonly  made  to  the  expediency  of 
encouraging,  and  to  the  probability  of  succeeding  in  manufactur 
ing  pursuits,  in  the  United  States,  having  now  been  discussed,  the 
considerations,  which  have  appeared  in  the  course  of  the  discus 
sion,  recommending  that  species  of  industry  to  the  patronage  of 
the  Government,  will  be  materially  strengthened  by  a  few  general, 
and  some  particular  topics,  which  have  been  naturally  reserved 
for  subsequent  notice. 

I.  There  seems  to  be  a  moral  certainty  that  the  trade  of  a 
country,  which  is  both  manufacturing  and  agricultural,  will  be 
more  lucrative  and  prosperous  than  that  of  a  country  which  is 
merely  agricultural.  .  .  . 

Not  only  the  wealth,  but  the  independence  and  security  of  a 
country,  appear  to  be  materially  connected  with  the  prosperity  of 
manufactures.  Every  nation,  with  a  view  to  those  great  objects, 
ought  to  endeavor  to  possess  within  itself,  all  the  essentials  of 
national  supply.  These  comprise  the  means  of  subsistence,  habi 
tation,  clothing,  and  defense. 

The  possession  of  these  is  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  the 
body  politic ;  to  the  safety  as  well  as  to  the  welfare  of  the  society. 
The  want  of  either  is  the  want  of  an  important  organ  of  political 
life  and  motion ;  and  in  the  various  crises  which  await  a  State,  it 
must  severely  feel  the  effects  of  any  such  deficiency.  The  ex 
treme  embarrassments  of  the  United  States,  during  the  late  war, 
from  an  incapacity  of  supplying  themselves,  are  still  matter  of  keen 
recollection ;  a  future  war  might  be  expected  again  to  exemplify 
the  mischiefs  and  dangers  of  a  situation,  to  which  that  incapacity 
is  still,  in  too  great  a  degree,  applicable,  unless  changed  by  timely 
and  vigorous  exertions.  To  effect  this  change,  as  fast  as  shall  be 
prudent,  merits  all  the  attention  and  all  the  zeal  of  our  public 
councils ;  'tis  the  next  great  work  to  be  accomplished.  .  .  . 

One  more  point  of  view  only  remains,  in  which  to  consider 
the  expediency  of  encouraging  manufactures  in  the  United 
States. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  meet  with  an  opinion,  that,  though  the 


1 10  REPORT  ON   MANUFACTURES  [Dec.  5 

promoting  of  manufactures  may  be  the  interest  of  a  part  of  the 
Union,  it  is  contrary  to  that  of  another  part.  The  Northern  and 
Southern  regions  are  sometimes  represented  as  having  adverse 
interests  in  this  respect.  Those  are  called  manufacturing,  these 
agricultural  States  ;  and  a  species  of  opposition  is  imagined  to 
subsist  between  the  manufacturing  and  agricultural  interests.  .  .  . 

Ideas  of  a  contrariety  of  interests  between  the  Northern  and 
Southern  regions  of  the  Union,  are,  in  the  main,  as  unfounded  as 
they  are  mischievous.  The  diversity  of  circumstances,  on  which 
such  contrariety  is  usually  predicated,  authorizes  a  directly  con 
trary  conclusion.  Mutual  wants  constitute  one  of  the  strongest 
links  of  political  connection ;  and  the  extent  of  these  bears  a 
natural  proportion  to  the  diversity  in  the  means  of  mutual  supply. 

Suggestions  of  an  opposite  complexion  are  ever  to  be  deplored, 
as  unfriendly  to  the  steady  pursuit  of  one  great  common  cause, 
and  to  the  perfect  harmony  of  all  the  parts. 

In  proportion  as  the  mind  is  accustomed  to  trace  the  intimate 
connection  of  interest  which  subsists  between  all  the  parts  of  a 
society,  united  under  the  same  government,  the  infinite  variety  of 
channels  which  serve  to  circulate  the  prosperity  of  each,  to  and 
through  the  rest  —  in  that  proportion  will  it  be  little  apt  to  be  dis 
turbed  by  solicitudes  and  apprehensions,  which  originate  in  local 
discriminations. 

It  is  a  truth,  as  important  as  it  is  agreeable,  and  one  to  which 
it  is  not  easy  to  imagine  exceptions,  that  every  thing  tending  to 
establish  substantial  and  permanent  order  in  the  affairs  of  a  coun 
try,  to  increase  the  total  mass  of  industry  and  opulence,  is  ulti 
mately  beneficial  to  every  part  of  it.  On  the  credit  of  this  great 
truth,  an  acquiescence  may  safely  be  accorded,  from  every  quarter, 
to  all  institutions  and  arrangements  which  promise  a  confirmation 
of  public  order  and  an  augmentation  of  national  resource. 

But  there  are  more  particular  considerations  which  serve  to 
fortify  the  idea  that  the  encouragement  of  manufactures  is  the 
interest  of  all  parts  of  the  Union.  If  the  Northern  and  Middle 
States  should  be  the  principal  scenes  of  such  establishments,  they 
would  immediately  benefit  the  more  Southern,  by  creating  a  de 
mand  for  productions,  some  of  which  they  have  in  common  with 
the  other  States,  and  others,  which  are  either  peculiar  to  them,  or 
more  abundant,  or  of  better  quality,  than  elsewhere.  These  pro 
ductions,  principally,  are  timber,  flax,  hemp,  cotton,  wool,  raw 


1791]  REPORT  ON  MANUFACTURES  III 

silk,  indigo,  iron,  lead,  furs,  hides,  skins,  and  coals ;  of  these  arti 
cles,  cotton  and  indigo  are  peculiar  to  the  Southern  States,  as  are, 
hitherto  lead  and  coal ;  flax  and  hemp  are,  or  may  be,  raised  in 
greater  abundance  there,  than  in  the  more  Northern  States ;  and 
the  wool  of  Virginia  is  said  to  be  of  better  quality  than  that  of  any 
other  State  —  a  circumstance  rendered  the  more  probable,  by  the 
reflection,  that  Virginia  embraces  the  same  latitudes  with  the  finest 
wool  countries  of  Europe.  The  climate  of  the  South  is  also  better 
adapted  to  the  production  of  silk. 

The  extensive  cultivation  of  cotton,  can,  perhaps,  hardly  be  ex 
pected  but  from  the  previous  establishment  of  domestic  manufacto 
ries  of  the  article;  and  the  surest  encouragement  and  vent  for 
the  others,  would  result  from  similar  establishments  in  respect  to 
them.  .  .  . 

A  full  view  having  now  been  taken  of  the  inducements  to  the 
promotion  of  manufactures  in  the  United  States,  accompanied 
with  an  examination  of  the  principal  objections  which  are  com 
monly  urged  in  opposition,  it  is  proper,  in  the  next  place,  to  con 
sider  the  means  by  which  it  may  be  effected,  as  introductory  to  a 
specification  of  the  objects,  which,  in  the  present  state  of  things, 
appear  the  most  fit  to  be  encouraged,  and  of  the  particular  measures 
which  it  may  be  advisable  to  adopt,  in  respect  to  each. 

In  order  to  a  better  judgment  of  the  means  proper  to  be  re 
sorted  to  by  the  United  States,  it  will  be  of  use  to  advert  to  those 
which  have  been  employed  with  success  in  other  countries.  The 
principal  of  these  are  : 

1 .  Protecting  duties  —  or  duties  on  those  foreign  articles  which 
are  the  rivals  of  the  domestic  ones  intended  to  be  encouraged.  .  .  . 

2.  Prohibitions   of  rival  articles,  or  duties  equivalent  to  pro 
hibitions.  .  .  . 

3.  Prohibitions  of  the  exportation  of  the  materials  of  manu 
factures.  .   .  . 

4.  Pecuniary  bounties.  .  .  . 

5.  Premiums.  .  .  . 

6.  The    exemption    of   the    materials    of   manufactures  from 
duty.  .  .  . 

7.  Drawbacks  of  the  ditties  which  are  imposed  on  the  materials 
of  manufactures.  .  .  . 

8.  The   encouragement  of  new   inventions   and  discoveries  at 
home,  and  of  the  introduction  into  the  United  States  of  such  as 


112  PROCLAMATION   OF  NEUTRALITY  [April  22 

may  have  been  made  in  other  countries  ;  particularly,  those  which 
relate  to  machinery.  .  .  . 

9.  Judicious  regulations  for  the  inspection  of  manufactured  com 
modities.  .  .  . 

10.  The  facilitating  of  pecuniary   remittances  from  place   to 
place  —  .   .  . 

11.  The  facilitating  of  the  transportation  of  commodities.  .  .  . 
...  It  appeared  proper  to  investigate  principles,  to  consider 

objections,  and  to  endeavor  to  establish  the  utility  of  the  thing  pro 
posed  to  be  encouraged,  previous  to  a  specification  of  the  objects 
which  might  occur,  as  meriting  or  requiring  encouragement,  and  of 
the  measures  which  might  be  proper  in  respect  to  each.  The  first 
purpose  having  been  fulfilled,  it  remains  to  pursue  the  second. 

In  the  selection  of  objects,  five  circumstances  seem  entitled  to 
particular  attention.  The  capacity  of  the  country  to  furnish  the 
raw  material  ;  the  degree  in  which  the  nature  of  the  manufacture 
admits  of  a  substitute  for  manual  labor  in  machinery  ;  the  facility 
of  execution  ;  the  extensiveness  of  the  uses  to  which  the  article 
can  be  applied  ;  its  subserviency  to  other  interests,  particularly  the 
great  one  of  national  defence.  There  are,  however,  objects  to 
which  these  circumstances  are  little  applicable,  which,  for  some 
special  reasons,  may  have  a  claim  to  encouragement.  .  .  . 

[The  report  then  considers,  as  objects  the  production  or  manu 
facture  of  which  should  be  encouraged,  iron,  copper,  lead,  coal, 
wood,  skins,  grain,  flax  and  hemp,  cotton,  wool,  silk,  glass,  gun 
powder,  paper,  printed  books,  refined  sugars,  and  chocolate.  The 
report  concludes  with  the  suggestion  that  the  anticipated  surplus 
of  receipts  from  the  additional  duties  proposed  be  applied,  first, 
"  to  constitute  a  fund  for  paying  the  bounties  which  have  been  de 
creed,"  and,  second,  "to  constitute  a  fund  for  the  operations  of  a 
board  to  be  established  for  promoting  arts,  agriculture,  manufact 
ures,  and  commerce."] 


No.   13.     Proclamation  of   Neutrality 

April  22,  1793 

THE  declaration  of  war  made  by  France  against  Great  Britain  and  Holland 
reached  the  United  States  early  in  April,  1793.  Washington  was  at  Mount 
Vernon.  April  12  he  addressed  letters  to  the  Secretaries  of  State  and  of  the 


1793]  PROCLAMATION   OF  NEUTRALITY  1 13 

Treasury,  "  requesting  their  immediate  attention  to  the  question  of  privateer 
ing";  on  the  1 7th  he  reached  Philadelphia.  On  the  following  day  Washing 
ton  sent  to  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  a  circular  letter  containing  thirteen 
questions,  framed  by  Hamilton,  relative  to  the  proper  conduct  of  the  United 
States  in  view  of  a  European  war.  The  members  of  the  Cabinet,  with  the 
Attorney-General,  met  on  the  igth  at  Washington's  house,  and  unanimously 
decided  in  favor  of  the  issuance  of  a  proclamation  of  neutrality.  Randolph 
was  directed  to  draw  up  the  proclamation;  on  the  22d  it  was  submitted  to 
the  President,  approved,  signed,  and  ordered  to  be  published.  The  proclama 
tion  was  communicated  to  Congress  Dec.  3. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Foreign  Relations,  I.,  140. 
Washington's  letter  to  the  Cabinet,  and  the  accompanying  questions,  are  given 
in  Sparks,  Writings  of  Washington,  X.,  337,  533,  534.  Jefferson's  account 
of  the  Cabinet  meeting  at  which  the  proclamation  was  discussed  is  in  his 
Works  (ed.  1854),  IX.,  142,  143;  for  his  own  views  on  the  subject,  ib.,  IV., 
17-20,  29-31.  For  the  controversy  between  Hamilton  and  Madison,  under 
the  names  of  "  Pacificus"  and  "  Helvidius,"  see  Hamilton's  Works  (ed.  1851), 
VII.,  76-117,  and  Madison's  Writings  (ed.  1865),  I.,  611-654. 

BY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 
A   PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS  it  appears  that  a  state  of  war  exists  between  Austria, 
Prussia,  Sardinia,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United  Netherlands,  of 
the  one  part,  and  France  on  the  other ;  and  the  duty  and  inter 
est  of  the  United  States  require,  that  they  should  with  sincerity 
and  good  faith  adopt  and  pursue  a  conduct  friendly  and  impartial 
toward  the  belligerent  Powers  : 

I  have  therefore  thought  fit  by  these  presents  to  declare  the 
disposition  of  the  United  States  to  observe  the  conduct  aforesaid 
towards  those  Powers  respectively ;  and  to  exhort  and  warn  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  carefully  to  avoid  all  acts  and  pro 
ceedings  whatsoever,  which  may  in  any  manner  tend  to  contra 
vene  such  disposition. 

And  I  do  hereby  also  make  known,  that  whosoever  of  the  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States  shall  render  himself  liable  to  punish 
ment  or  forfeiture  under  the  law  of  nations,  by  committing,  aiding, 
or  abetting  hostilities  against  any  of  the  said  Powers,  or  by  carry 
ing  to  any  of  them  those  articles  which  are  deemed  contraband 
by  the  modern  usage  of  nations,  will  not  receive  the  protection  of 
the  United  States,  against  such  punishment  or  forfeiture ;  and 
further,  that  I  have  given  instructions  to  those  officers,  to  whom 
it  belongs,  to  cause  prosecutions  to  be  instituted  against  all  per- 
i 


1 14  JAY  TREATY  [Nov.  19 

sons,  who  shall,  within  the  cognizance  of  the  courts  of  the  United 
States,  violate  the  law  of  nations,  with  respect  to  the  Powers  at 
war,  or  any  of  them. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  caused  the  seal  of  the  United 
States  of  America  to  be  affixed  to  these  presents,  and  signed  the 
same  with  my  hand.  Done  at  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  the  twenty- 
second  day  of  April,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-three, 
and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the 
seventeenth. 

GEO.  WASHINGTON. 


No.  14.     Treaty  with   Great   Britain 

November  19,   1794 

THE  non-observance  by  Great  Britain  of  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  1783 
in  regard  to  the  carrying  away  of  slaves  and  the  withdrawal  of  troops  led  to 
extended  but  fruitless  diplomatic  correspondence.  In  the  autumn  of  1793 
relations  between  the  two  countries  were  further  strained  by  the  admiralty 
orders  for  the  seizure  of  neutral  vessels  laden  with  provisions  destined  for 
French  ports.  April  16,  1794,  Washington  nominated  John  Jay,  chief  justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  as  envoy  extraordinary  to  negotiate  with  Great  Britain. 
By  a  vote  of  1 8  to  8  the  nomination  was  confirmed.  Jay  reached  London 
June  15,  and  Nov.  19  the  treaty  was  concluded.  The  treaty  was  submitted  to 
the  Senate,  in  special  session,  June  8,  1 795 ;  on  the  24th  ratification  was  ad 
vised,  with  a  special  reservation  as  to  the  twelfth  article.  An  act  of  May  8, 
1796,  made  appropriations  for  carrying  the  treaty  into  effect. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Revised  Statittes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia, 
etc.  (ed.  1875),  269-282.  Jay's  instructions  and  the  diplomatic  correspondence 
are  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Foreign  Relations,  I.,  472-520.  The  proceedings 
of  the  Senate  are  in  the  Annals,  3d  Cong.,  854-868 ;  discussions  in  the  House 
are  in  the  Annals,  4th  Cong.,  1st  Sess.,  426-783,  and  in  Benton's  Abridg 
ment,  I.,  639-754.  Washington's  message  refusing  compliance  with  the  re 
quest  of  the  House  for  papers  relating  to  the  treaty  is  in  Amer.  State  Papers 
(Wait's  ed.,  1817),  II.,  102-105.  For  Hamilton's  objections  to  the  treaty 
when  first  made  known,  see  Gibbs's  Administrations  of  Washington  and 
Adams,  I.,  223,  224;  for  his  later  views,  over  names  of  "Horatius"  and 
"Camillus,"  see  his  Works  (ed.  1851),  VII.,  169-528.  See  also  Works  of 
Fisher  Ames  (ed.  1809),  58-93,  speech  on  the  treaty;  Wharton's  Digest  of 
Intern.  Law  (ed.  1887),  II.,  161-163;  an(l  ib.,  II.,  158,  159,  for  references 
to  judicial  decisions  involving  the  treaty;  Jay's  Life  of  John  Jay,  I.,  305-315, 
322-354- 

His  Britannic  Majesty  and  the  United  States  of  America,  being 
desirous,  by  a  treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and  navigation,  to  ter- 


1794]  JAY  TREATY  115 

minate  their  differences  in  such  a  manner,  as,  without  reference 
to  the  merits  of  their  respective  complaints  and  pretentions,  may 
be  the  best  calculated  to  produce  mutual  satisfaction  and  good 
understanding;  and  also  to  regulate  the  commerce  and  naviga 
tion  between  their  respective  countries,  territories,  and  people, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  the  same  reciprocally  beneficial 
and  satisfactory;  they  have,  respectively,  named  their  Plenipo 
tentiaries,  and  given  them  full  powers  to  treat  of,  and  conclude 
the  said  treaty,  that  is  to  say : 

His  Britannic  Majesty  has  named  for  his  Plenipotentiary,  the 
Right  Honorable  William  Wyndham  Baron  Grenville  of  Wotton, 
one  of  His  Majesty's  Privy  Council,  and  His  Majesty's  Principal 
Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs;  and  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate 
thereof,  hath  appointed  for  their  Plenipotentiary,  the  Honorable 
John  Jay,  Chief  Justice  of  the  said  United  States,  and  their 
Envoy  Extraordinary  to  His  Majesty; 

Who  have  agreed  on  and  concluded  the  following  articles : 

ARTICLE  I. 

There  shall  be  a  firm,  inviolable  and  universal  peace,  and  a 
true  and  sincere  friendship  between  His  Britannic  Majesty,  his 
heirs  and  successors,  and  the  United  States  of  America;  and 
between  their  respective  countries,  territories,  cities,  towns  and 
people  of  every  degree,  without  exception  of  persons  or  places. 

ARTICLE  II. 

His  Majesty  will  withdraw  all  his  troops  and  garrisons  from 
all  posts  and  places  within  the  boundary  lines  assigned  by  the 
treaty  of  peace  to  the  United  States.  This  evacuation  shall  take 
place  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  June,  one  thousand  seven  hun 
dred  and  ninety-six,  and  all  the  proper  measures  shall  in  the 
interval  be  taken  by  concert  between  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  and  His  Majesty's  Governor-General  in  America, 
for  settling  the  previous  arrangements  which  may  be  necessary 
respecting  the  delivery  of  the  said  posts :  The  United  States  in 
the  mean  time,  at  their  discretion,  extending  their  settlements  to 
any  part  within  the  said  boundary  line,  except  within  the  pre 
cincts  or  jurisdiction  of  any  of  the  said  posts.  All  settlers  and 
traders,  within  the  precincts  or  jurisdicion  of  the  said  posts, 


Il6  JAY  TREATY  [Nov.  19 

shall  continue  to  enjoy,  unmolested,  all  their  property  of  every 
kind,  and  shall  be  protected  therein.  They  shall  be  at  full  lib 
erty  to  remain  there,  or  to  remove  with  all  or  any  part  of  their 
effects;  and  it  shall  also  be  free  to  them  to  sell  their  lands, 
houses,  or  effects,  or  to  retain  the  property  thereof,  at  their  dis 
cretion;  such  of  them  as  shall  continue  to  reside  within  the  said 
boundary  lines,  shall  not  be  compelled  to  become  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  or  to  take  any  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Government 
thereof;  but  they  shall  be  at  full  liberty  so  to  do  if  they  think 
proper,  and  they  shall  make  and  declare  their  election  within  one 
year  after  the  evacuation  aforesaid.  And  all  persons  who  shall 
continue  there  after  the  expiration  of  the  said  year,  without  hav 
ing  declared  their  intention  of  remaining  subjects  of  His  Bri 
tannic  Majesty,  shall  be  considered  as  having  elected  to  become 
citizens  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  III.* 

It  is  agreed  that  it  shall  at  all  times  be  free  to  His  Majesty's 
subjects,  and  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  also  to  the 
Indians  dwelling  on  either  side  of  the  said  boundary  line,  freely 
to  pass  and  repass  by  land  or  inland  navigation,  into  the  respec 
tive  territories  and  countries  of  the  two  parties,  on  the  continent 
of  America,  (the  country  within  the  limits  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  only  excepted,)  and  to  navigate  all  the  lakes,  rivers, 
and  waters  thereof,  and  freely  to  carry  on  trade  and  commerce 
with  each  other.  But  it  is  understood  that  this  article  does  not 
extend  to  the  admission  of  vessels  of  the  United  States  into  the 
sea-ports,  harbours,  bays,  or  creeks  of  His  Majesty's  said  territo 
ries;  nor  into  such  parts  of  the  rivers  in  His  Majesty's  said  terri 
tories  as  are  between  the  mouth  thereof,  and  the  highest  port  of 
entry  from  the  sea,  except  in  small  vessels  trading  bona  fide 
between  Montreal  and  Quebec,  under  such  regulations  as  shall 
be  established  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  any  frauds  in  this 
respect.  Nor  to  the  admission  of  British  vessels  from  the  sea 
into  the  rivers  of  the  United  States,  beyond  the  highest  ports  of 
entry  for  foreign  vessels  from  the  sea.  The  river  Mississippi 
shall,  however,  according  to  the  treaty  of  peace,  be  entirely  open 
to  both  parties;  and  it  is  further  agreed,  that  all  the  ports  and 

*  See  explanatory  article,  May  4,  1796.  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of 
Columbia  (ed.  1875),  282,  283;  Treaties  and  Conventions  (ed.  1889),  295,  296.  —  ED. 


1794]  JAY  TREATY  1 1/ 

places  on  its  eastern  side,  to  whichsoever  of  the  parties  belonging, 
may  freely  be  resorted  to  and  used  by  both  parties,  in  as  ample 
a  manner  as  any  of  the  Atlantic  ports  or  places  of  the  United 
States,  or  any  of  the  ports  or  places  of  His  Majesty  in  Great 
Britain. 

All  goods  and  merchandize  whose  importation  into  His  Maj 
esty's  said  territories  in  America  shall  not  be  entirely  prohibited, 
may  freely,  for  the  purposes  of  commerce,  be  carried  into  the 
same  in  the  manner  aforesaid,  by  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  such  goods  and  merchandize  shall  be  subject  to  no 
higher  or  other  duties  than  would  be  payable  by  His  Majesty's 
subjects  on  the  importation  of  the  same  from  Europe  into  the 
said  territories.  And  in  like  manner,  all  goods  and  merchandize 
whose  importation  into  the  United  States  shall  not  be  wholly 
prohibited,  may  freely,  for  the  purposes  of  commerce,  be  carried 
into  the  same,  in  the  manner  aforesaid,  by  His  Majesty's  sub 
jects,  and  such  goods  and  merchandize  shall  be  subject  to  no 
higher  or  other  duties  than  would  be  payable  by  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States  on  the  importation  of  the  same  in  American 
vessels  into  the  Atlantic  ports  of  the  said  States.  And  all  goods 
not  prohibited  to  be  exported  from  the  said  territories  respec 
tively,  may  in  like  manner  be  carried  out  of  the  same  by  the  two 
parties  respectively,  paying  duty  as  aforesaid. 

No  duty  of  entry  shall  ever  be  levied  by  either  party  on  peltries 
brought  by  land  or  inland  navigation  into  the  said  territories 
respectively,  nor  shall  the  Indians  passing  or  repassing  with  their 
own  proper  goods  and  effects  of  whatever  nature,  pay  for  the  same 
any  impost  or  duty  whatever.  But  goods  in  bales,  or  other  large 
packages,  unusual  among  Indians,  shall  not  be  considered  as 
goods  belonging  bona  fide  to  Indians. 

No  higher  or  other  tolls  or  rates  of  ferriage  than  what  are  or 
shall  be  payable  by  natives,  shall  be  demanded  on  either  side; 
and  no  duties  shall  be  payable  on  any  goods  which  shall  merely 
be  carried  over  any  of  the  portages  or  carrying-places  on  either 
side,  for  the  purpose  of  being  immediately  re-imbarked  and  car 
ried  to  some  other  place  or  places.  But  as  by  this  stipulation  it 
is  only  meant  to  secure  to  each  party  a  free  passage  across  the 
portages  on  both  sides,  it  is  agreed  that  this  exemption  from  duty 
shall  extend  only  to  such  goods  as  are  carried  in  the  usual  and 
direct  road  across  the  portage,  and  are  not  attempted  to  be  in 


H8  JAY  TREATY  [Nov.  19 

any  manner  sold  or  exchanged  during  their  passage  across  the 
same,  and  proper  regulations  may  be  established  to  prevent  the 
possibility  of  any  frauds  in  this  respect. 

As  this  article  is  intended  to  render  in  a  great  degree  the  local 
advantages  of  each  party  common  to  both,  and  thereby  to  pro 
mote  a  disposition  favorable  to  friendship  and  good  neighbor 
hood,  it  is  agreed  that  the  respective  Governments  will  mutually 
promote  this  amicable  intercourse,  by  causing  speedy  and  impar 
tial  justice  to  be  done,  and  necessary  protection  to  be  extended 
to  all  who  may  be  concerned  therein. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Whereas  it  is  uncertain  whether  the  river  Mississippi  extends 
so  far  to  the  northward  as  to  be  intersected  by  a  line  to  be  drawn 
due  west  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  in  the  manner  mentioned 
in  the  treaty  of  peace  between  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States : 
it  is  agreed  that  measures  shall  be  taken  in  concert  between  His 
Majesty's  Government  in  America  and  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  for  making  a  joint  survey  of  the  said  river  from 
one  degree  of  latitude  below  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony,  to  the 
principal  source  or  sources  of  the  said  river,  and  also  of  the 
parts  adjacent  thereto;  and  that  if,  on  the  result  of  such  survey, 
it  should  appear  that  the  said  river  would  not  be  intersected  by 
such  a  line  as  is  above  mentioned,  the  two  parties  will  thereupon 
proceed,  by  amicable  negotiation,  to  regulate  the  boundary  line 
in  that  quarter,,  as  well  as  all  other  points  to  be  adjusted  between 
the  said  parties,  according  to  justice  and  mutual  convenience 
and  in  conformity  to  the  intent  of  the  said  treaty. 

ARTICLE  V.* 

Whereas  doubts  have  arisen  what  river  was  truly  intended  under 
the  name  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  mentioned  in  the  said  treaty  of 
peace,  and  forming  a  part  of  the  boundary  therein  described ;  that 
question  shall  be  referred  to  the  final  decision  of  commissioners 
to  be  appointed  in  the  following  manner,  viz:  [Each  party  to 
choose  one  commissioner,  and  these  two  to  choose  a  third.  The 
commissioner  to  "decide  what  river  is  the  river  St.  Croix,  in 
tended  by  the  treaty,"  and  the  decision  to  be  final.] 

*  See  explanatory  article,  March  15,  1798.  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District 
of  Columbia  (ed.  1875),  283,  284;  Treaties  and  Conventions  (ed.  1889),  396,  397. 
—  ED. 


1794]  JAY  TREATY  H9 

ARTICLE  VI. 

Whereas  it  is  alledged  by  divers  British  merchants  and  others 
His  Majesty's  subjects,  that  debts,  to  a  considerable  amount, 
which  were  bona  fide  contracted  before  the  peace,  still  remain 
owing  to  them  by  citizens  or  inhabitants  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  by  the  operation  of  various  lawful  impediments  since 
the  peace,  not  only  the  full  recovery  of  the  said  debts  has  been 
delayed,  but  also  the  value  and  security  thereof  have  been,  in 
several  instances,  impaired  and  lessened,  so  that,  by  the  ordi 
nary  course  of  judicial  proceedings,  the  British  creditors  cannot 
now  obtain,  and  actually  have  and  receive  full  and  adequate 
compensation  for  the  losses  and  damages  which  they  have  thereby 
sustained :  It  is  agreed,  that  in  all  such  cases,  where  full  com 
pensation  for  such  losses  and  damages  cannot,  for  whatever 
reason,  be  actually  obtained,  had  and  received  by  the  said  cred 
itors  in  the  ordinary  course  of  justice,  the  United  States  will 
make  full  and  complete  compensation  for  the  same  to  the  said 
creditors :  But  it  is  distinctly  understood,  that  this  provision  is 
to  extend  to  such  losses  only  as  have  been  occasioned  by  the  law 
ful  impediments  aforesaid,  and  is  not  to  extend  to  losses  occa 
sioned  by  such  insolvency  of  the  debtors  or  other  causes  as  would 
equally  have  operated  to  produce  such  loss,  if  the  said  impedi 
ments  had  not  existed;  nor  to  such  losses  or  damages  as  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  manifest  delay  or  negligence,  or  wilful 
omission  of  the  claimant. 

[Claims  to  be  adjudicated  by  five  commissioners,  with  powers 
and  duties  as  herein  prescribed.  The  awards  of  the  commission 
ers  to  be  final,  "both  as  to  the  justice  of  the  claim,  and  to  the 
amount  of  the  sum  to  be  paid  to  the  creditor  or  claimant."] 

ARTICLE  VII. 

Whereas  complaints  have  been  made  by  divers  merchants  and 
others,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  that  during  the  course  of 
the  war  in  which  His  Majesty  is  now  engaged,  they  have  sus 
tained  considerable  losses  and  damage,  by  reason  of  irregular  or 
illegal  captures  or  condemnations  of  their  vessels  and  other  prop 
erty,  under  color  of  authority  or  commissions  from  His  Majesty, 
and  that  from  various  circumstances  belonging  to  the  said  cases, 
adequate  compensation  for  the  losses  and  damages  so  sustained 


120  JAY  TREATY  [Nov.  19 

cannot  now  be  actually  obtained,  had,  and  received  by  the  ordi 
nary  course  of  judicial  proceedings;  it  is  agreed,  that  in  all  such 
cases,  where  adequate  compensation  cannot,  for  whatever  reason, 
be  now  actually  obtained,  had,  and  received  by  the  said  merchants 
and  others,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  justice,  full  and  complete 
compensation  for  the  same  will  be  made  by  the  British  Govern 
ment  to  the  said  complainants.  But  it  is  distinctly  understood 
that  this  provision  is  not  to  extend  to  such  losses  or  damages  as 
have  been  occasioned  by  the  manifest  delay  or  negligence,  or 
wilful  omission  of  the  claimant. 

[Claims  to  be  adjudicated  by  five  commissioners,  under  like 
conditions  to  those  stated  in  Art.  VI.]  * 

And  whereas  certain  merchants  and  others,  His  Majesty's  sub 
jects,  complain  that,  in  the  course  of  the  war,  they  have  sustained 
loss  and  damage  by  reason  of  the  capture  of  their  vessels  and  mer 
chandise,  taken  within  the  limits  and  jurisdiction  of  the  States  and 
brought  into  the  ports  of  the  same,  or  taken  by  vessels  originally 
armed  in  ports  of  the  said  States : 

It  is  agreed  that  in  all  such  cases  where  restitution  shall  not 
have  been  made  agreeably  to  the  tenor  of  the  letter  from  Mr. 
Jefferson  to  Mr.  Hammond,  dated  at  Philadelphia,  Sept.  5,  1793, 
a  copy  of  which  is  annexed  to  this  treaty;  f  the  complaints  of  the 
parties  shall  be  and  hereby  are  referred  to  the  commissioners  to 
be  appointed  by  virtue  of  this  article,  who  are  hereby  authorized 
and  required  to  proceed  in  the  like  manner  relative  to  these  as 
to  the  other  cases  committed  to  them.  .  .  . 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

[Provides  for  the  expenses  of  the  commissioners  and  the  filling 
of  vacancies.] 

ARTICLE  IX. 

It  is  agreed  that  British  subjects  who  now  hold  lands  in  the 
territories  of  the  United  States,  and  American  citizens  who  now 
hold  lands  in  the  dominions  of  His  Majesty,  shall  continue  to 
hold  them  according  to  the  nature  and  tenure  of  their  respective 

*  A  convention  providing  for  payment  of  indemnity  under  Articles  VI.  and  VII., 
and  debts  under  Article  IV.  of  the  treaty  of  Sept.  3,  1783,  was  concluded  Jan.  8,  1802. 
Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia  (ed.  1875),  285-287  ;  Treaties  and 
Conventions  (ed.  1889),  398,  399. —  ED. 

f  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia  (ed.  1875),  284,  285  ;  Treaties 
and  Conventions  (ed.  1889),  394,  395.  —  ED. 


794]  JAY  TREATY  121 

estates  and  titles  therein;  and  may  grant,  sell,  or  devise  the 
same  to  whom  they  please,  in  like  manner  as  if  they  were  na 
tives;  and  that  neither  they  nor  their  heirs  or  assigns  shall,  so 
far  as  may  respect  the  said  lands  and  the  legal  remedies  incident 
thereto,  be  regarded  as  aliens. 

ARTICLE  X. 

Neither  the  debts  due  from  individuals  of  the  one  nation  to 
individuals  of  the  other,  nor  shares,  nor  monies,  which  they  may 
have  in  the  public  funds,  or  in  the  public  or  private  banks,  shall 
ever  in  any  event  of  war  or  national  differences  be  sequestered  or 
confiscated,  it  being  unjust  and  impolitic  that  debts  and  engage 
ments  contracted  and  made  by  individuals,  having  confidence  in 
each  other  and  in  their  respective  Governments,  should  ever  be 
destroyed  or  impaired  by  national  authority  on  account  of  national 
differences  and  discontents. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

It  is  agreed  between  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States  of 
America,  that  there  shall  be  a  reciprocal  and  entirely  perfect 
liberty  of  navigation  and  commerce  between  their  respective 
people,  in  the  manner,  under  the  limitations,  and  on  the  condi 
tions  specified  in  the  following  articles. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

[Art.  XII.,  relating  to  trade  with  the  West  Indies,  was  sus 
pended  by  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  advising  ratification,  and 
the  suspension  was  agreed  to  by  Great  Britain.] 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

His  Majesty  consents  that  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  of  America  shall  be  admitted  and  hospitably 
received  in  all  the  sea-ports  and  harbors  of  the  British  territories 
in  the  East  Indies.  And  that  the  citizens  of  the  said  United 
States  may  freely  carry  on  a  trade  between  the  said  territories 
and  the  said  United  States,  in  all  articles  of  which  the  impor 
tation  or  exportation  respectively,  to  or  from  the  said  territories, 
shall  not  be  entirely  prohibited.  Provided  only,  that  it  shall 
not  be  lawful  for  them  in  any  time  of  war  between  the  British 


122  JAY   TREATY  [Nov.  19 

Government  and  any  other  Power  or  State  whatever,  to  export 
from  the  said  territories,  without  the  special  permission  of  the 
British  Government  there,  any  military  stores,  or  naval  stores,  or 
rice.  The  citizens  of  the  United  States  shall  pay  for  their  ves 
sels  when  admitted  into  the  said  ports  no  other  or  higher  tonnage 
duty  than  shall  be  payable  on  British  vessels  when  admitted  into 
the  ports  of  the  United  States.  And  they  shall  pay  no  other  or 
higher  duties  or  charges,  on  the  importation  or  exportation  of  the 
cargoes  of  the  said  vessels,  than  shall  be  payable  on  the  same 
articles  when  imported  or  exported  in  British  vessels.  But  it  is 
expressly  agreed  that  the  vessels  of  the  United  States  shall  not 
carry  any  of  the  articles  exported  by  them  from  the  said  British 
territories  to  any  port  or  place,  except  to  some  port  or  place  in 
America,  where  the  same  shall  be  unladen,  and  such  regulations 
shall  be  adopted  by  both  parties  as  shall  from  time  to  time  be 
found  necessary  to  enforce  the  due  arid  faithful  observance  of 
this  stipulation.  It  is  also  understood  that  the  permission 
granted  by  this  article  is  not  to  extend  to  allow  the  vessels  or 
the  United  States  to  carry  on  any  part  of  the  coasting  trade  of 
the  said  British  territories;  but  vessels  going  with  their  original 
cargoes,  or  part  thereof,  from  one  port  of  discharge  to  another, 
are  not  to  be  considered  as  carrying  on  the  coasting  trade. 
Neither  is  this  article  to  be  construed  to  allow  the  citizens  of 
the  said  States  to  settle  or  reside  within  the  said  territories,  or  to 
go  into  the  interior  parts  thereof,  without  the  permission  of  the 
British  Government  established  there;  and  if  any  transgression 
should  be  attempted  against  the  regulations  of  the  British  Gov 
ernment  in  this  respect,  the  observance  of  the  same  shall  and 
may  be  enforced  against  the  citizens  of  America  in  the  same 
manner  as  against  British  subjects  or  others  transgressing  the 
same  rule.  And  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  whenever  they 
arrive  in  any  port  or  harbour  in  the  said  territories,  or  if  they 
should  be  permitted,  in  manner  aforesaid,  to  go  to  any  other  place 
therein,  shall  always  be  subject  to  the  laws,  government,  and 
jurisdiction  of  what  nature  established  in  such  harbor,  port,  or 
place,  according  as  the  same  may  be.  The  citizens  of  the  United 
States  may  also  touch  for  refreshment  at  the  island  of  St.  Helena, 
but  subject  in  all  respects  to  such  regulations  as  the  British  Gov 
ernment  may  from  time  to  time  establish  there. 


1 794]  JAY  TREATY  123 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

There  shall  be  between  all  the  dominions  of  His  Majesty  in 
Europe  and  the  territories  of  the  United  States  a  reciprocal  and 
perfect  liberty  of  commerce  and  navigation.  The  people  and 
inhabitants  of  the  two  countries,  respectively,  shall  have  liberty, 
freely  and  securely,  and  without  hindrance  and  molestation,  to 
come  with  their  ships  and  cargoes  to  the  lands,  countries,  cities, 
ports,  places,  and  rivers  within  the  dominions  and  territories 
aforesaid,  to  enter  into  the  same,  to  resort  there,  and  to  remain 
and  reside  there,  without  any  limitation  of  time.  Also  to  hire 
and  possess  houses  and  warehouses  for  the  purposes  of  their  com 
merce,  and  generally  the  merchants  and  traders  on  each  side 
shall  enjoy  the  most  complete  protection  and  security  for  their 
commerce;  but  subject  always  as  to  what  respects  this  article  to 
the  laws  and  statutes  of  the  two  countries  respectively. 

ARTICLE  XV. 

It  is  agreed  that  no  other  or  higher  duties  shall  be  paid  by  the 
ships  or  merchandize  of  the  one  party  in  the  ports  of  the  other 
than  such  as  are  paid  by  the  like  vessels  or  merchandize  of  all 
other  nations.  Nor  shall  any  other  or  higher  duty  be  imposed  in 
one  country  on  the  importation  of  any  articles  the  growth,  prod 
uce,  or  manufacture  of  the  other,  than  are  or  shall  be  payable 
on  the  importation  of  the  like  articles  being  of  the  growth,  prod 
uce,  or  manufacture  of  any  other  foreign  country.  Nor  shall 
any  prohibition  be  imposed  on  the  exportation  or  importation  of 
any  articles  to  or  from  the  territories  of  the  two  parties  respec 
tively,  which  shall  not  equally  extend  to  all  other  nations. 

But  the  British  Government  reserves  to  itself  the  right  of 
imposing  on  American  vessels  entering  into  the  British  ports  in 
Europe  a  tonnage  duty  equal  to  that  which  shall  be  payable  by 
British  vessels  in  the  ports  of  America;  and  also  such  duty  as 
may  be  adequate  to  countervail  the  difference  of  duty  now  pay 
able  on  the  importation  of  European  and  Asiatic  goods,  when 
imported  into  the  United  States  in  British  or  in  American  vessels. 

The  two  parties  agree  to  treat  for  the  more  exact  equalization 
of  the  duties  on  the  respective  navigation  of  their  subjects  and 
people,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  most  beneficial  to  the  two 
countries.  The 'arrangements  for  this  purpose  shall  be  made  at 


124  JAY  TREATY  [Nov.  19 

the  same  time  with  those  mentioned  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
twelfth  article  of  this  treaty,  and  are  to  be  considered  as  a  part 
thereof.  In  the  interval  it  is  agreed  that  the  United  States  will 
not  impose  any  new  or  additional  tonnage  duties  on  British  ves 
sels,  nor  increase  the  now-subsisting  difference  between  the  duties 
payable  on  the  importation  of  any  articles  in  British  or  in  Ameri 
can  vessels. 

ARTICLE  XVI. 

[Provides  for  the  appointment  of  consuls.] 

ARTICLE  XVII. 

It  is  agreed  that  in  all  cases  where  vessels  shall  be  captured  or 
detained  on  just  suspicion  of  having  on  board  enemy's  property, 
or  of  carrying  to  the  enemy  any  of  the  articles  which  are  contra 
band  of  war,  the  said  vessel  shall  be  brought  to  the  nearest  or 
most  convenient  port;  and  if  any  property  of  an  enemy  should 
be  found  on  board  such  vessel,  that  part  only  which  belongs  to 
the  enemy  shall  be  made  prize,  and  the  vessel  shall  be  at  liberty 
to  proceed  with  the  remainder  without  any  impediment.  And  it 
is  agreed  that  all  proper  measures  shall  be  taken  to  prevent  delay 
in  deciding  the  cases  of  ships  or  cargoes  so  brought  in  for  adju 
dication,  and  in  the  payment  or  recovery  of  any  indemnification, 
adjudged  or  agreed  to  be  paid  to  the  masters  or  owners  of  such 

ships. 

ARTICLE  XVIII. 

In  order  to  regulate  what  is  in  future  to  be  esteemed  contra 
band  of  war,  it  is  agreed  that  under  the  said  denomination  shall 
be  comprised  all  arms  and  implements  serving  for  the  purposes  of 
war,  by  land  or  sea,  such  as  cannon,  muskets,  mortars,  petards, 
bombs,  grenades,  carcasses,  saucisses,  carriages  for  cannon,  mus 
ket-rests,  bandoliers,  gun-powder,  match,  saltpetre,  ball,  pikes, 
swords,  head-pieces,  cuirasses,  halberts,  lances,  javelins,  horse- 
furniture,  holsters,  belts,  and  generally  all  other  implements  of 
war,  as  also  timber  for  ship-building,  tar  or  rozin,  copper  in 
sheets,  sails,  hemp,  and  cordage,  and  generally  whatever  may 
serve  directly  to  the  equipment  of  vessels,  unwrought  iron  and 
fir  planks  only  excepted;  and  all  the  above  articles  are  hereby 
declared  to  be  just  objects  of  confiscation  whenever  they  are 
attempted  to  be  carried  to  an  enemy. 

And  whereas  the  difficulty  of  agreeing  on  the  precise  cases  in 


1794]  JAY   TREATY  125 

which  alone  provisions  and  other  articles  not  generally  contra 
band  may  be  regarded  as  such,  renders  it  expedient  to  provide 
against  the  inconveniences  and  misunderstandings  which  might 
thence  arise :  It  is  further  agreed  that  whenever  any  such  articles 
so  becoming  contraband,  according  to  the  existing  laws  of  nations, 
shall  for  that  reason  be  seized,  the  same  shall  not  be  confiscated, 
but  the  owners  thereof  shall  be  speedily  and  completely  indem 
nified;  and  the  captors,  or,  in  their  default,  the  Government 
under  whose  authority  they  act,  shall  pay  to  the  masters  or  owners 
of  such  vessels  the  full  value  of  all  such  articles,  with  a  reason 
able  mercantile  profit  thereon,  together  with  the  freight,  and  also 
the  demurrage  incident  to  such  detention. 

And  whereas  it  frequently  happens  that  vessels  sail  for  a  port 
or  place  belonging  to  an  enemy  without  knowing  that  the  same 
is  either  besieged,  blockaded,  or  invested,  it  is  agreed  that  every 
vessel  so  circumstanced  may  be  turned  away  from  such  port  or 
place;  but  she  shall  not  be  detained,  nor  her  cargo,  if  not  contra 
band,  be  confiscated,  unless  after  notice  she  shall  again  attempt 
to  enter,  but  she  shall  be  permitted  to  go  to  any  other  port  or 
place  she  may  think  proper;  nor  shall  any  vessel  or  goods  of 
either  party  that  may  have  entered  into  such  port  or  place  before 
the  same  was  besieged,  blockaded,  or  invested  by  the  other,  and 
be  found  therein  after  the  reduction  or  surrender  of  such  place, 
be  liable  to  confiscation,  but  shall  be  restored  to  the  owners  or 
proprietors  thereof. 

ARTICLE  XIX. 

And  that  more  abundant  care  may  be  taken  for  the  security  of 
the  respective  subjects  and  citizens  of  the  contracting  parties, 
and  to  prevent  their  suffering  injuries  by  the  men-of-war,  or  pri 
vateers  of  either  party,  all  commanders  of  ships  of  war  and 
privateers,  and  all  others  the  said  subjects  and  citizens,  shall 
forbear  doing  any  damage  to  those  of  the  other  party  or  commit 
ting  any  outrage  against  them,  and  if  they  act  to  the  contrary  they 
shall  be  punished,  and  shall  also  be  bound  in  their  persons  and 
estates  to  make  satisfaction  and  reparation  for  all  damages,  and 
the  interest  thereof,  of  whatever  nature  the  said  damages  may  be. 

[Commanders  of  privateers  to  give  bonds,  and  authentic  copies 
of  proceedings  in  prize  cases  to  be  furnished  to  commanders  if 
required.] 


126  JAY  TREATY  [Nov.  19 

ARTICLE  XX. 
[Neither  party  to  aid  pirates.] 

ARTICLE  XXI. 

It  is  likewise  agreed  that  the  subjects  and  citizens  of  the  two 
nations  shall  not  do  any  acts  of  hostility  or  violence  against  each 
other,  nor  accept  commissions  or  instructions  so  to  act  from  any 
foreign  Prince  or  State,  enemies  to  the  other  party;  nor  shall  the 
enemies  of  one  of  the  parties  be  permitted  to  invite,  or  endeavor 
to  enlist  in  their  military  service,  any  of  the  subjects  or  citizens 
of  the  other  party;  and  the  laws  against  all  such  offences  and 
aggressions  shall  be  punctually  executed.  And  if  any  subject  or 
citizen  of  the  said  parties  respectively  shall  accept  any  foreign 
commission  or  letters  of  marque  for  arming  any  vessel  to  act  as  a 
privateer  against  the  other  party,  and  be  taken  by  the  other  party, 
it  is  hereby  declared  to  be  lawful  for  the  said  party  to  treat  and 
punish  the  said  subject  or  citizen  having  such  commission  or 
letters  of  marque  as  a  pirate. 

ARTICLE  XXII. 

It  is  expressly  stipulated  that  neither  of  the  said  contracting 
parties  will  order  or  authorize  any  acts  of  reprisal  against  the 
other,  on  complaints  of  injuries  or  damages,  until  the  said  party 
shall  first  have  presented  to  the  other  a  statement  thereof,  veri 
fied  by  competent  proof  and  evidence,  and  demanded  justice  and 
satisfaction,  and  the  same  shall  either  have  been  refused  or  un 
reasonably  delayed. 

ARTICLE  XXIII. 

The  ships  of  war  of  each  of  the  contracting  parties  shall,  at  all 
times,  be  hospitably  received  in  the  ports  of  the  other,  their 
officers  and  crews  paying  due  respect  to  the  laws  and  Govern 
ment  of  the  country.  The  officers  shall  be  treated  with  that 
respect  which  is  due  to  the  commissions  which  they  bear,  and 
if  any  insult  should  be  offered  to  them  by  any  of  the  inhabitants, 
all  offenders  in  this  respect  shall  be  punished  as  disturbers  of  the 
peace  and  amity  between  the  two  countries.  And  His  Majesty 
consents  that  in  case  an  American  vessel  should,  by  stress  of 
weather,  danger  from  enemies,  or  other  misfortune,  be  reduced 
to  the  necessity  of  seeking  shelter  in  any  of  His  Majesty's  ports, 


I794]  JAY  TREATY  127 

into  which  such  vessel  could  not  in  ordinary  cases  claim  to  be 
admitted,  she  shall,  on  manifesting  that  necessity  to  the  satisfac 
tion  of  the  Government  of  the  place,  be  hospitably  received,  and 
be  permitted  to  refit  and  to  purchase  at  the  market  price  such 
necessaries  as  she  may  stand  in  need  of,  conformably  to  such 
orders  and  regulations  as  the  Government  of  the  place,  having 
respect  to  the  circumstances  of  each  case,  shall  prescribe.  She 
shall  not  be  allowed  to  break  bulk  or  unload  her  cargo,  unless 
the  same  should  be  bona  fide  necessary  to  her  being  refitted. 
Nor  shall  be  permitted  to  sell  any  part  of  her  cargo,  unless  so 
much  only  as  may  be  necessary  to  defray  her  expences,  and  then 
not  without  the  express  permission  of  the  Government  of  the 
place.  Nor  shall  she  be  obliged  to  pay  any  duties  whatever, 
except  only  on  such  articles  as  she  may  be  permitted  to  sell  for 
the  purpose  aforesaid. 

ARTICLE  XXIV. 

It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  foreign  privateers  (not  being  sub 
jects  or  citizens  of  either  of  the  said  parties)  who  have  commis 
sions  from  any  other  Prince  or  State  in  enmity  with  either  nation 
to  arm  their  ships  in  the  ports  of  either  of  the  said  parties,  nor  to 
sell  what  they  have  taken,  nor  in  any  other  manner  to  exchange  the 
same;  nor  shall  they  be  allowed  to  purchase  more  provisions  than 
shall  be  necessary  for  their  going  to  the  nearest  port  of  that  Prince 
or  State  from  whom  they  obtained  their  commissions. 

ARTICLE  XXV. 

It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  ships  of  war  and  privateers  belonging 
to  the  said  parties  respectively  to  carry  whithersoever  they  please 
the  ships  and  goods  taken  from  their  enemies,  without  being 
obliged  to  pay  any  fee  to  the  officers  of  the  admiralty,  or  to  any 
judges  whatever;  nor  shall  the  said  prizes,  when  they  arrive  at 
and  enter  the  ports  of  the  said  parties,  be  detained  or  seized, 
neither  shall  the  searchers  or  other  officers  of  those  places  visit 
such  prizes,  (except  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  carrying  of 
any  part  of  the  cargo  thereof  on  shore  in  any  manner  contrary  to 
the  established  laws  of  revenue,  navigation,  or  commerce,)  nor 
shall  such  officers  take  cognizance  of  the  validity  of  such  prizes; 
but  they  shall  be  at  liberty  to  hoist  sail  and  depart  as  speedily  as 
may  be,  and  carry  their  said  prizes  to  the  place  mentioned  in 
their  commissions  or  patents,  which  the  commanders  of  the  said 


I28  JAY  TREATY  [Nov.  19 

ships  of  war  or  privateers  shall  be  obliged  to  show.  No  shelter 
or  refuge  shall  be  given  in  their  ports  to  such  as  have  made  a 
prize  upon  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  either  of  the  said  parties; 
but  if  forced  by  stress  of  weather,  or  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  to 
enter  therein,  particular  care  shall  be  taken  to  hasten  their  de 
parture,  and  to  cause  them  to  retire  as  soon  as  possible.  Noth 
ing  in  this  treaty  contained  shall,  however,  be  construed  01 
operate  contrary  to  former  and  existing  public  treaties  with  other 
sovereigns  or  States.  But  the  two  parties  agree  that  while  they 
continue  in  amity  neither  of  them  will  in  future  make  any  treaty 
that  shall  be  inconsistent  with  this  or  the  preceding  article. 

Neither  of  the  said  parties  shall  permit  the  ships  or  goods 
belonging  to  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  other  to  be  taken 
within  cannon  shot  of  the  coast,  nor  in  any  of  the  bays,  ports, 
or  rivers  of  their  territories,  by  ships  of  war  or  others  having 
commission  from  any  Prince,  Republic,  or  State  whatever.  But 
in  case  it  should  so  happen,  the  party  whose  territorial  rights 
shall  thus  have  been  violated  shall  use  his  utmost  endeavors  to 
obtain  from  the  offending  party  full  and  ample  satisfaction  for 
the  vessel  or  vessels  so  taken,  whether  the  same  be  vessels  of  war 
or  merchant  vessels. 

ARTICLE  XXVI. 

If  at  any  time  a  rupture  should  take  place  (which  God  forbid) 
between  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States,  the  merchants  and 
others  of  each  of  the  two  nations  residing  in  the  dominions  of 
the  other  shall  have  the  privilege  of  remaining  and  continuing 
their  trade,  so  long  as  they  behave  peaceably  and  commit  no 
offence  against  the  laws;  and  in  case  their  conduct  should  render 
them  suspected,  and  the  respective  Governments  should  think 
proper  to  order  them  to  remove,  the  term  of  twelve  months  from 
the  publication  of  the  order  shall  be  allowed  them  for  that  pur 
pose,  to  remove  with  their  families,  effects,  and  property,  but  this 
favor  shall  not  be  extended  to  those  who  shall  act  contrary  to  the 
established  laws;  and  for  greater  certainty,  it  is  declared  that 
such  rupture  shall  not  be  deemed  to  exist  while  negotiations  for 
accommodating  differences  shall  be  depending,  nor  until  the  re 
spective  Ambassadors  or  Ministers,  if  such  there  shall  be,  shall 
be  recalled  or  sent  home  on  account  of  such  differences,  and  not 
on  account  of  personal  misconduct,  according  to  the  nature  and 


I794]  JAY  TREATY  1 29 

degrees  of  which  both  parties  retain  their  rights,  either  to  request 
the  recall,  or  immediately  to  send  home  the  Ambassador  or  Min 
ister  of  the  other,  and  that  without  prejudice  to  their  mutual 
friendship  and  good  understanding. 

ARTICLE  XXVII. 

[Provides  for  the  extradition  of  persons  charged  with  murder 

or  forgery.] 

ARTICLE  XXVIII. 

It  is  agreed  that  the  first  ten  articles  of  this  treaty  shall  be 
permanent,  and  that  the  subsequent  articles,  except  the  twelfth, 
shall  be  limited  in  their  duration  to  twelve  years,  to  be  computed 
from  the  day  on  which  the  ratifications  of  this  treaty  shall  be 
exchanged,  but  subject  to  this  condition,  That  whereas  the  said 
twelfth  article  will  expire  by  the  limitation  therein  contained,  at 
the  end  of  two  years  from  the  signing  of  the  preliminary  or  other 
articles  of  peace,  which  shall  terminate  the  present  war  in  which 
His  Majesty  is  engaged,  it  is  agreed  that  proper  measures  shall 
by  concert  be  taken  for  bringing  the  subject  of  that  article  into 
amicable  treaty  and  discussion,  so  early  before  the  expiration  of 
the  said  term  as  that  new  arrangements  on  that  head  may  by  that 
time  be  perfected  and  ready  to  take  place.  But  if  it  should 
unfortunately  happen  that  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States 
should  not  be  able  to  agree  on  such  new  arrangements,  in  that 
case  all  the  articles  of  this  treaty,  except  the  first  ten,  shall  then 
cease  and  expire  together. 

Lastly.  This  treaty,  when  the  same  shall  have  been  ratified  by 
His  Majesty  and  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  their  Senate,  and  the  respective 
ratifications  mutually  exchanged,  shall  be  binding  and  obligatory 
on  His  Majesty  and  on  the  said  States,  and  shall  be  by  them 
respectively  executed  and  observed  with  punctuality  and  the 
most  sincere  regard  to  good  faith;  and  whereas  it  will  be  expe 
dient,  in  order  the  better  to  facilitate  intercourse  and  obviate 
difficulties,  that  other  articles  be  proposed  and  added  to  this 
treaty,  which  articles,  from  want  of  time  and  other  circum 
stances,  cannot  now  be  perfected,  it  is  agreed  that  the  said 
parties  will,  from  time  to  time,  readily  treat  of  and  concerning 
such  articles,  and  will  sincerely  endeavor  so  to  form  them  as  that 
they  may  conduce  to  mutual  convenience  and  tend  to  promote 

K 


130  WHISKEY   INSURRECTION  [Nov.  <9 

mutual  satisfaction  and  friendship;  and  that  the  said  articles, 
after  having  been  duly  ratified,  shall  be  added  to  and  make  a 
part  of  this  treaty.  In  faith  whereof  we,  the  undersigned  Minis 
ters  Plenipotentiary  of  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  of  America,  have  signed  this  present  treaty, 
and  have  caused  to  be  affixed  thereto  the  seal  of  our  arms. 

Done  at  London  this  nineteenth  day  of  November,  one  thou 
sand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four. 

GRENVILLE.  [L.S.] 
JOHN  JAY.    [L.S.] 


No.  15.    Washington's  Message  on  the  Insur 
rection  in   Pennsylvania 

November  ig,  1794 

THE  excise  law  of  March  3,  1791,  was  especially  obnoxious  in  the  four 
western  counties  of  Pennsylvania,  where  whiskey  was  an  ordinary  medium  of 
exchange  in  business  transactions.  A  reduction  of  the  duties  by  act  of  May  8, 
1792,  failed  to  check  the  growing  discontent.  In  July,  1794,  attempts  to 
serve  writs  of  the  district  court  of  Pennsylvania  led  to  riotous  demonstrations. 
The  insurrection  was  the  principal  subject  of  Washington's  address  to  Congress, 
Nov.  19,  of  which  an  extract  follows. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Journals  of  Senate  and  House,  3d  Cong.,  2d  Sess.; 
extract  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  L,  83-85,  where  are  also  the 
proclamations  of  Aug.  7  and  Sept,  25,  1794,  and  papers  accompanying  the 
message.  Hamilton's  report  on  the  opposition  to  internal  duties  is  in  his 
Works  (ed.  1851),  IV.,  578-599.  Gallatin's  account  of  the  insurrection  is  in 
his  Writings,  III.,  3-67.  See  also  Hamilton's  letters  to  Mifflin,  Works,  V., 
i-ii,  16-26;  to  Lee,  ib.,  V.,  38-42;  correspondence  with  Washington  while 
Hamilton  was  with  the  troops,  ib,,  V.,  42-55  ;  Johnston,  in  Lalor^s  Cyclopedia, 
III.,  1108-1112;  McMaster's  United  States,  \\.,  189-204. 

Fellow  Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 
WHEN  we  call  to  mind  the  gracious  indulgence  of  Heaven,  by 
which  the  American  People  became  a  nation  ;  when  we  survey  the 
general  prosperity  of  our  country,  and  look  forward  to  the  riches, 
power,  and  happiness,  to  which  it  seems  destined  ;  with  the  deep 
est  regret  do  I  announce  to  you  that,  during  your  recess,  some  of 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States  have  been  found  capable  of  an 
insurrection.  It  is  due,  however,  to  the  character  of  our  Govern 
ment,  and  to  its  stability,  which  cannot  be  shaken  by  the  enemies 
of  order,  freely  to  unfold  the  course  of  this  event. 


1 794]  WHISKEY   INSURRECTION 

During  the  session  of  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety,  it  was  expedient  to  exercise  the  legislative  power,  granted 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  "  to  lay  and  collect 
excises."  In  a  majority  of  the  States,  scarcely  an  objection  was 
made  to  this  mode  of  taxation.  In  some,  indeed,  alarms  were  at 
first  conceived,  until  they  were  banished  by  reason  and  patriotism. 
In  the  four  Western  counties  of  Pennsylvania,  a  prejudice,  fostered 
and  embittered  by  the  artifice  of  men,  who  labored  for  an  ascen 
dency  over  the  will  of  others,  by  the  guidance  of  their  passions, 
produced  symptoms  of  riot  and  violence.  It  is  well  known  that 
Congress  did  not  hesitate  to  examine  the  complaints  which  were 
presented,  and  to  relieve  them,  as  far  as  justice  dictated,  or  general 
convenience  would  permit.  But  the  impression  which  this  modera 
tion  made  on  the  discontented,  did  not  correspond  with  what  it 
deserved.  The  arts  of  delusion  were  no  longer  confined  to  the 
efforts  of  designing  individuals.  The  very  forbearance  to  press 
prosecutions  was  misinterpreted  into  a  fear  of  urging  the  execution 
of  the  laws ;  and  associations  of  men  began  to  denounce  threats 
against  the  officers  employed.  From  a  belief  that,  by  a  more 
formal  concert,  their  operation  might  be  defeated,  certain  self- 
created  societies  assumed  the  tone  of  condemnation.  Hence, 
while  the  greater  part  of  Pennsylvania  itself  were  conforming 
themselves  to  the  acts  of  excise,  a  few  counties  were  resolved  to 
frustrate  them.  It  was  now  perceived  that  every  expectation  from 
the  tenderness  which  had  been  hitherto  pursued,  was  unavailing, 
and  that  further  delay  could  only  create  an  opinion  of  impotency 
or  irresolution  in  the  Government.  Legal  process,  was,  therefore, 
delivered  to  the  Marshal,  against  the  rioters  and  delinquent  dis 
tillers.  No  sooner  was  he  understood  to  be  engaged  in  this  duty, 
than  the  vengeance  of  armed  men  was  aimed  at  his  person,  and 
the  person  and  property  of  the  Inspector  of  the  Revenue.  They 
fired  upon  the  Marshal,  arrested  him,  and  detained  him  for  some 
time  as  a  prisoner.  He  was  obliged,  by  the  jeopardy  of  his  life, 
to  renounce  the  service  of  other  process,  on  the  West  side  of 
the  Allegheny  Mountain;  and  a  deputation  was  afterwards  sent 
to  him  to  demand  a  surrender  of  that  which  he  had  served.  A 
numerous  body  repeatedly  attacked  the  house  of  the  Inspector  — 
seized  his  papers  of  office  —  and,  finally  destroyed,  by  fire,  his 
buildings,  and  whatsoever  they  contained.  Both  of  these  officers, 
from  a  just  regard  to  their  safety,  fled  to  the  Seat  of  Government ; 


132  WHISKEY   INSURRECTION  [Nov.  19 

it  being  avowed,  that  the  motives  to  such  outrages  were  to  compel 
the  resignation  of  the  Inspector  —  to  withstand,  by  force  of  arms, 
the  authority  of  the  United  States,  and  thereby  to  extort  a  repeal  of 
the  laws  of  excise,  and  an  alteration  in  the  conduct  of  Government. 

Upon  the  testimony  of  these  facts,  an  Associate  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  notified  to  me  that,  "  in  the 
counties  of  Washington  and  Allegheny,  in  Pennsylvania,  laws  of 
the  United  States  were  opposed,  and  the  execution  thereof  ob 
structed  by  combinations,  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed  by  the 
ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings,  or  by  the  powers  vested 
in  the  Marshal  of  that  District."  On  this  call,  momentous  in  the 
extreme,  I  sought  and  weighed  what  might  best  subdue  the  crisis. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  judiciary  was  pronounced  to  be  stripped  of 
its  capacity  to  enforce  the  laws ;  crimes,  which  reached  the  very 
existence  of  social  order,  were  perpetrated  without  control ;  the 
friends  of  Government  were  insulted,  abused,  and  overawed  into 
silence,  or  an  apparent  acquiescence  ;  and  to  yield  to  the  treason 
able  fury  of  so  small  a  portion  of  the  United  States,  would  be  to 
violate  the  fundamental  principle  of  our  Constitution,  which  en 
joins  that  the  will  of  the  majority  shall  prevail.  On  the  other,  to 
array  citizen  against  citizen  —  to  publish  the  dishonor  of  such  ex 
cesses —  to  encounter  the  expense,  and  other  embarrassments  of 
so  distant  an  expedition,  were  steps  too  delicate,  too  closely  inter 
woven  with  many  affecting  considerations,  to  be  lightly  adopted. 
I  postponed,  therefore,  the  summoning  of  the  Militia  immediately 
into  the  field.  But  I  required  them  to  be  held  in  readiness,  that,  if 
my  anxious  endeavors  to  reclaim  the  deluded,  and  to  convince  the 
malignant  of  their  danger,  should  be  fruitless,  military  force  might 
be  prepared  to  act  before  the  season  should  be  too  far  advanced. 

My  proclamation  of  the  seventh  of  August  last,  was  accordingly 
issued,  and  accompanied  by  the  appointment  of  Commissioners, 
who  were  charged  to  repair  to  the  scene  of  insurrection.  They 
were  authorized  to  confer  with  any  bodies  of  men,  or  individuals. 
They  were  instructed  to  be  candid  and  explicit  in  stating  the  sen 
sations  which  had  been  excited  in  the  Executive,  and  its  earnest 
wish  to  avoid  a  resort  to  coercion.  To  represent,  however,  that, 
without  submission,  coercion  must  be  the  resort ;  but  to  invite 
them,  at  the  same  time,  to  return  to  the  demeanor  of  faithful  citi 
zens,  by  such  accommodation's  as  lay  within  the  sphere  of  Execu 
tive  power.  Pardon,  too,  was  tendered  to  them  by  the  Government 


1794]  WHISKEY  INSURRECTION  133 

of  the  United  States,  and  that  of  Pennsylvania,  upon  no  other 
condition,  than  a  satisfactory  assurance  of  obedience  to  the  laws. 

Although  the  report  of  the  Commissioners  marks  their  firmness 
and  abilities,  and  must  unite  all  virtuous  men,  by  shewing  that  the 
means  of  conciliation  have  been  exhausted,  all  of  those  who  had 
committed  or  abetted  the  tumults,  did  not  subscribe  the  mild  form 
which  was  proposed,  as  the  atonement ;  and  the  indications  of  a 
peaceable  temper,  were  neither  sufficiently  general  nor  conclusive, 
to  recommend  or  warrant  the  farther  suspension  of  the  march  of 
the  Militia. 

Thus,  the  painful  alternative  could  not  be  discarded.  I  ordered 
the  Militia  to  march,  after  once  more  admonishing  the  insurgents, 
in  my  proclamation  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  September  last. 

It  was  a  task  too  difficult  to  ascertain  with  precision  the  lowest 
degree  of  force,  competent  to  the  quelling  of  the  insurrection. 
From  a  respect,  indeed,  to  economy,  and  the  ease  of  my  fellow 
citizens  belonging  to  the  Militia,  it  would  have  gratified  me  to 
accomplish  such  an  estimate.  My  very  reluctance  to  ascribe  too 
much  importance  to  the  opposition,  had  its  extent  been  accurately 
seen,  would  have  been  a  decided  inducement  to  the  smallest  effi 
cient  numbers.  In  this  uncertainty,  therefore,  I  put  into  motion 
fifteen  thousand  men,  as  being  an  army  which,  according  to  all 
human  calculation,  would  be  prompt,  and  adequate  in  every  view ; 
and  might,  perhaps,  by  rendering  resistance  desperate,  prevent 
the  effusion  of  blood.  Quotas  had  been  assigned  to  the  States  of 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia ;  the  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania  having  declared,  on  this  occasion,  an  opinion 
which  justified  a  requisition  to  the  other  States. 

As  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Militia,  when  called  into  the 
actual  service  of  the  United  States,  I  have  visited  the  places  of 
general  rendezvous,  to  obtain  more  exact  information,  and  to 
direct  a  plan  for  ulterior  movements.  Had  there  been  room  for 
a  persuasion,  that  the  laws  were  secure  from  obstruction  ;  that  the 
Civil  Magistrate  was  able  to  bring  to  justice  such  of  the  most 
culpable,  as  have  not  embraced  the  proffered  terms  of  amnesty, 
and  may  be  deemed  fit  objects  of  example ;  that  the  friends  to 
peace  and  good  government  were  not  in  need  of  that  aid  and 
countenance,  which  they  ought  always  to  receive,  and  I  trust,  ever 
will  receive,  against  the  vicious  and  turbulent,  I  should  have 
caught,  with  avidity,  the  opportunity  of  restoring  the  Militia  to 


134  WHISKEY   INSURRECTION  [Nov.  19 

their  families  and  home.  But  succeeding  intelligence  has  tended 
to  manifest  the  necessity  of  what  has  been  done  ;  it  being  now 
confessed  by  those  who  were  not  inclined  to  exaggerate  the  ill 
conduct  of  the  insurgents,  that  their  malevolence  was  not  pointed 
merely  to  a  particular  law,  but  that  a  spirit,  inimical  to  all  order, 
has  actuated  many  of  the  offenders.  If  the  state  of  things  had 
afforded  reason  for  the  continuance  of  my  presence  with  the 
Army,  it  would  not  have  been  withholden.  But  every  appearance 
assuring  such  an  issue  as  will  redound  to  the  reputation  and 
strength  of  the  United  States,  I  have  judged  it  most  proper  to 
resume  my  duties  at  the  Seat  of  Government,  leaving  the  chief 
command  with  the  Governor  of  Virginia. 

Still,  however,  as  it  is  probable,  that,  in  a  commotion  like  the 
present,  whatsoever  may  be  the  pretence,  the  purposes  of  mischief 
and  revenge  may  not  be  laid  aside,  the  stationing  of  a  small  force 
for  a  certain  period  in  the  four  Western  counties  of  Pennsylvania, 
will  be  indispensable,  whether  we  contemplate  the  situation  of 
those  who  are  connected  with  the  execution  of  the  laws,  or  of 
others  who  may  have  exposed  themselves  by  an  honorable  attach 
ment  to  them.  Thirty  days  from  the  commencement  of  this  ses 
sion  being  the  legal  limitation  of  the  employment  of  the  Militia,* 
Congress  cannot  be  too  early  occupied  with  this  subject. 

*********** 

While  there  is  cause  to  lament  that  occurrences  of  this  nature 
should  have  disgraced  the  name,  or  interrupted  the  tranquillity  of 
any  part  of  our  community,  or  should  have  diverted  to  a  new 
application  any  portion  of  the  public  resources,  there  are  not 
wanting  real  and  substantial  consolations  for  the  misfortune.  It 
has  demonstrated  that  our  prosperity  rests  on  solid  foundations  ; 
by  furnishing  an  additional  proof  that  my  fellow  citizens  under 
stand  the  true  principles  of  government  and  liberty :  that  they 
feel  their  inseparable  union  :  that,  notwithstanding  all  the  devices 
which  have  been  used  to  sway  them  from  their  interest  and  duty, 
they  are  now  as  ready  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  laws  against 
licentious  invasions,  as  they  were  to  defend  their  rights  against 
usurpation.  It  has  been  a  spectacle,  displaying  to  the  highest 
advantage  the  value  of  Republican  Government,  to  behold  the 
most  and  the  least  wealthy  of  our  citizens  standing  in  the  same 
ranks  as  private  soldiers,  pre-eminently  distinguished  by  being  the 

*  Act  of  May  2,  1792,  sec  2;  Stat.  at  Large,  I.,  264.  — ED. 


1794]  XYZ    MISSION  135 

army  of  the  constitution,  ur  leterred  by  a  march  of  three  hundred 
miles  over  rugged  mountains,  by  the  approach  of  an  inclement 
season,  or  by  any  other  discouragement.  Nor  ought  I  to  omit  to 
acknowledge  the  efficacious  and  patriotic  co-operation  which  I 
have  experienced  from  the  Chief  Magistrates  of  the  States  to 
which  my  requisitions  have  been  addressed. 

To  every  description,  indeed,  of  citizens,  let  praise  be  given. 
But  let  them  persevere  in  their  affectionate  vigilance  over  that 
precious  depository  of  American  happiness,  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  Let  them  cherish  it,  too,  for  the  sake  of  those 
who,  from  every  clime,  are  daily  seeking  a  dwelling  in  our  land. 
And  when,  in  the  calm  moments  of  reflection,  they  shall  have  re 
traced  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  insurrection,  let  them  de 
termine  whether  it  has  not  been  fomented  by  combinations  of 
men,  who,  careless  of  consequences,  and  disregarding  the  unerring 
truth  that  those  who  rouse  cannot  always  appease  a  civil  convul 
sion,  have  disseminated,  from  an  ignorance  or  perversion  of  facts, 
suspicions,  jealousies,  and  accusations,  of  the  whole  Government.* 

Having  thus  fulfilled  the  engagement  which  I  took  when  I  en 
tered  into  office,  "  to  the  best  of  my  ability  to  preserve,  protect, 
and  defend  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,"  on  you,  Gen 
tlemen,  and  the  People  by  whom  you  are  deputed,  I  rely  for 
support.  .  .  . 


No.    1  6.     Adams's  Message  on  the  Negotia 
tions  with  France 

March  19,  1798 

IN  June,  1796,  Pinckney  succeeded  Monroe  as  American  minister  to 
France.  He  presented  his  credentials  in  December,  but  was  refused  recogni 
tion  by  the  Directory,  and  in  January  received  notice  to  leave  France,  and 
went  to  Holland.  In  May,  1797,  Adams  nominated  PmckneYj  Marshall,  and 


Dana  a  special  mission  to  France;  Dana  declined,  and  Gerry^was  substituted. 
The  commissioners  met  in  Paris  in  October.  March  5,  1798,  the  President 
announced  to  Congress  the  receipt  of  dispatches  from  the  commissioners,  and 
on  the  1  9th  summarized  the  situation  in  the  message  which  follows.  A  call 
for  the  papers  was  introduced  in  the  Senate  March  20,  but  was  laid  over.  A 
call  for  all  the  papers  was  made  by  the  House  April  2;  the  next  day  the  Presi 
dent  communicated  them  to  both  Houses,  "  omitting  only  some  names,  and  a 

*  This  was  understood  to  refer  to  the  Democratic  clubs,  which  had  been  in 
existence  since  1793.  —  ED. 


136  XYZ   MISSION  [March  19 

few  expressions,  descriptive  of  the  persons."  Adams's  own  feeling  in  regard 
to  the  treatment  of  the  American  commissioners  is  best  expressed  in  the  clos 
ing  sentence  of  his  message  of  June  21  :  "I  will  never  send  another  minister 
to  France  without  assurances  that  he  will  be  received,  respected,  and  honored 
as  the  representative  of  a  great,  free,  powerful,  and  independent  nation." 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  vn.  Journals  of  Senate  and  House,  5th  Cong.,  2d  Sess. 
The  papers  transmitted  April  3  are  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Foreign  Relations, 
II.,  153-168,  and  in  Amer.  State  Papers  (Wait's  ed.,  1817),  III.,  456-IV.,  25. 
For  the  discussions  in  Congress,  see  the  Annals,  5th  Cong.,  or  Benton's  Abridg 
ment,  II.  On  the  opinions  of  the  Cabinet,  March  13,  as  to  the  advisability  of 
presenting  all  the  dispatches  to  Congress  immediately,  see  Adams's  Works 
(ed.  1853),  VIII.,  568,  569;  Wolcott's  answer,  which  was  made  the  basis  of 
the  message,  is  in  Gibbs's  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  II.,  14, 
15.  For  Adams's  view  of  the  negotiations,  see  his  letters  to  Gerry,  in  his 
Works,  VIII.,  546-549;  for  the  Democratic  view,  Jefferson's  Works  (ed.  1854), 
IV.,  238-240,  and  Randall's  Jefferson,  II.,  381-394.  See  also  Monroe's  View 
of  the  Conduct  of  the  Executive  (Phila.,  1797);  Hamilton's  Public  Conduct 
and  Character  of  John  Adams,  in  Works  (ed.  1851),  VII.,  687-713;  John 
ston,  in  Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  III.,  1122-1127. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate  and  Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  : 

THE  despatches  from  the  Envoys  Extraordinary  of  the  United 
States  to  the  French  Republic,  which  were  mentioned  in  my  mes 
sage  to  both  Houses  of  Congress  of  the  fifth  instant,  have  been 
examined  and  maturely  considered. 

While  I  feel  a  satisfaction  in  informing  you  that  their  exertions 
for  the  adjustment  of  the  differences  between  the  two  nations  have 
been  sincere  and  unremitted,  it  is  incumbent  on  me  to  declare  that 
I  perceive  no  ground  of  expectation  that  the  objects  of  their  mis 
sion  can  be  accomplished  on  terms  compatible  with  the  safety, 
honor,  or  the  essential  interests  of  the  nation. 

This  result  cannot,  with  justice,  be  attributed  to  any  want  of 
moderation  on  the  part  of  this  Government,  or  to  any  indisposi 
tion  to  forego  secondary  interests  for  the  preservation  of  peace. 
Knowing  it  to  be  my  duty,  and  believing  it  to  be  your  wish,  as 
well  as  that  of  the  great  body  of  the  People,  to  avoid,  by  all 
reasonable  concessions,  any  participation  in  the  contentions  of 
Europe,  the  powers  vested  in  our  Envoys  were  commensurate  with 
a  liberal  and  pacific  policy,  and  that  high  confidence  which  might 
justly  be  reposed  in  the  abilities,  patriotism,  and  integrity,  of  the 
characters  to  whom  the  negotiation  was  committed.  After  a  care 
ful  review  of  the  whole  subject,  with  the  aid  of  all  the  information 


1798]  ALIEN  AND   SEDITION  ACTS  137 

I  have  received,  I  can  discern  nothing  which  could  have  insured, 
or  contributed  to  success,  that  has  been  omitted  on  my  part,  and 
nothing  further  which  can  be  attempted,  consistently  with  maxims 
for  which  our  country  has  contended,  at  every  hazard,  and  which 
constitute  the  basis  of  our  national  sovereignty. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  cannot  forbear  to  reiterate  the 
recommendations  which  have  been  formerly  made,  and  to  exhort 
you  to  adopt,  with  promptitude,  decision,  and  unanimity,  such 
measures  as  the  ample  resources  of  the  country  afford,  for  the 
protection  of  our  sea-faring  and  commercial  citizens ;  for  the 
defence  of  any  exposed  portions  of  our  territory ;  for  the  replen 
ishing  our  arsenals,  establishing  foundries  and  military  manufacto 
ries  ;  and  to  provide  such  efficient  revenue,  as  will  be  necessary 
to  defray  extraordinary  expenses,  and  supply  the  deficiencies 
which  may  be  occasioned  by  depredations  on  our  commerce. 

The  present  state  of  things  is  so  essentially  different  from  that 
in  which  instructions  were  given  to  Collectors  to  restrain  ves 
sels  of  the  United  States  from  sailing  in  an  armed  condition,*  that 
the  principle  on  which  those  orders  were  issued  has  ceased  to 
exist :  I  therefore  deem  it  proper  to  inform  Congress  that  I  no 
longer  feel  myself  justifiable  in  continuing  them,  unless  in  par 
ticular  cases,  where  there  may  be  reasonable  ground  of  suspi 
cion  that  such  vessels  are  intended  to  be  employed  contrary  to 
law. 

In  all  your  proceedings,  it  will  be  important  to  manifest  a  zeal, 
vigor,  and  concert,  in  defence  of  the  national  rights,  proportioned 
to  the  danger  with  which  they  are  threatened. 

JOHN  ADAMS. 


Alien  and  Sedition  Acts 
i798 

THE  papers  relating  to  the  mission  to  France,  communicated  to  Congress 
April  3,  1798,  were  printed  by  order  of  the  Senate  April  9.  The  publication 
of  the  dispatches  "  solidified  opposition  to  France,  and  gave  both  houses  to 
Federalist  control.  Leading  republican  journalists  were  chiefly  foreigners,  and 

*  See  circular  to  th  >  Collectors  of  Customs,  April  8, 1797,  in  Amer.  State  Papers^ 
Foreign  Relations,  II.,  78.  — ED. 


138  NATURALIZATION  ACT  [June  1 8 

one  of  the  first  objects  of  the  Federalists  was  to  muzzle  these  aliens"  (John 
ston).  The  result  of  these  efforts  was  the  passage  of  the  four  acts  following, 
known  collectively  as  the  alien  and  sedition  acts. 

REFERENCES.  —  For  the  texts  of  the  acts,  and  their  legislative  history,  see 
under  each  act,  following.  For  the  proceedings  in  Congress,  see  House  and 
Senate  Journals,  5th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.;  for  the  debates,  see  the  Annals,  5th 
Cong.,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  II.  On  the  general  effect  of  the  acts  consult 
any  larger  history  of  the  United  States;  see  also  Johnston,  in  Lalor^s  Cyclo- 
pcedia,  I.,  56-58;  Story's  Commentaries  (ed.  1833),  III.,  164-166,  and  notes. 
The  adverse  report  of  a  committee  of  the  House,  Feb.  21,  1799,  on  petitions 
for  the  repeal  of  the  laws,  is  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  I.,  181-184. 


No.    17.     Naturalization  Act 

June  18,  1798 

APRIL  19,  1798,  Coit  of  Connecticut  introduced  in  the  House  a  resolution 
for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  consider  the  expediency  of  suspending 
or  amending  the  existing  law  regarding  naturalization.  With  the  addition  of 
a  clause  calling  upon  the  committee  "  to  consider  and  report  upon  the  expedi 
ency  of  establishing  by  law  regulations  respecting  aliens  arriving  or  residing 
within  the  United  States,"  the  resolution  was  adopted.  May  3  the  committee 
reported  three  resolutions,  the  first  of  which  favored  a  longer  term  of  residence 
for  aliens  before  naturalization.  The  first  two  resolutions  were  agreed  to  by 
the  House,  and  referred  to  a  committee,  who  on  May  15  brought  in  a  bill  to 
amend  the  naturalization  law.  The  bill  was  taken  up  on  the  2ist,  discussed  at 
length,  and  on  the  22d  passed,  after  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  incorporate  a 
provision  suspending  for  a  limited  time  the  operation  of  the  act.  In  the 
Senate  the  bill  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  three,  who  reported  an  amended 
bill  June  8.  The  bill  as  reported  was  agreed  to  on  the  nth,  and  on  the  I2th, 
after  further  amendments,  passed  by  a  vote  of  13  to  8.  June  13  the  House 
agreed  to  the  Senate  amendments;  on  the  i8th  the  act  was  approved. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  I.,  566-569.  The  act  was 
repealed  by  the  act  of  April  14,  1802  {Stat.  at  Large,  II.,  153-155). 

An  Act  supplementary  to  and  to  amend  the  act,  intituled ' "  An  act 
to  establish  an  uniform  rule  of  naturalization ;  and  to  repeal 
the  act  heretofore  passed  on  that  subject. 

SECTION  i.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  no  alien  shall  be  admitted  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 


1798]  NATURALIZATION  ACT  139 

States,  or  of  any  state,  unless  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  act, 
intituled  "  An  act  to  establish  an  uniform  rule  of  naturalization ; 
and  to  repeal  the  act  heretofore  passed  on  that  subject,"  *  he 
shall  have  declared  his  intention  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  five  years,  at  least,  before  his  admission,  and  shall,  at  the 
time  of  his  application  to  be  admitted,  declare  and  prove,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  court  having  jurisdiction  in  the  case,  that  he  has 
resided  within  the  United  States  fourteen  years,  at  least,  and 
within  the  state  or  territory  where,  or  for  which  such  court  is  at 
the  time  held,  five  years,  at  least,  besides  conforming  to  the  other 
declarations,  renunciations  and  proofs,  by  the  said  act  required, 
any  thing  therein  to  the  contrary  hereof  notwithstanding :  Pro 
vided,  that  any  alien,  who  was  residing  within  the  limits,  and  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  before  the  twenty-ninth  day 
of  January,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-five,  may, 
within  one  year  after  the  passing  of  this  act  —  and  any  alien  who 
shall  have  made  the  declaration  of  his  intention  to  become  a  citi 
zen  of  the  United  States,  in  conformity  to  the  provisions  of  the 
act  [of  Jan.  29,  1795],  may,  within  four  years  after  having  made 
the  declaration  aforesaid,  be  admitted  to  become  a  citizen,  in  the 
manner  prescribed  by  the  said  act,  upon  his  making  proof  that  he 
has  resided  five  years,  at  least,  within  the  limits,  and  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  :  And  provided  also,  that  no  alien, 
who  shall  be  a  native,  citizen,  denizen  or  subject  of  any  nation  or 
state  with  whom  the  United  States  shall  be  at  war,  at  the  time  of 
his  application,  shall  be  then  admitted  to  become  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States. 

SEC.  2.  [Abstracts  of  the  declarations  of  aliens  seeking  natu 
ralization  to  be  sent  to  the  Secretary  of  State  by  clerks  of  courts, 
under  penalty  for  refusal.] 

SEC.  3.  [Certified  copies  of  records  of  naturalization,  including 
all  cases  before  the  passage  of  this  act,  to  be  sent  to  the  Secretary 
of  State  by  clerks  of  courts,  under  penalty  for  wilful  neglect.] 

SEC.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  white  persons,  aliens, 
(accredited  foreign  ministers,  consuls,  or  agents,  their  families  and 
domestics,  excepted)  who,  after  the  passing  of  this  act,  shall  con 
tinue  to  reside,  or  who  shall  arrive,  or  come  to  reside  in  any  port 
or  place  within  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  reported, 

*  Act  of  Jan.  29,  1795  (Stat.  at  Large,  I.,  414,  415),  repealing  act  of  March  26, 
1790  (Stat.  at  Large,  I.,  103,  104). —  ED. 


140  NATURALIZATION  ACT  [June  18 

if  free,  and  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  by  themselves,  or 
being  under  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  or  holden  in  service, 
by  their  parent,  guardian,  master  or  mistress  in  whose  care  they 
shall  be,  to  the  clerk  of  the  district  court  of  the  district,  if  living 
within  ten  miles  of  the  port  or  place,  in  which  their  residence  or 
arrival  shall  be,  and  otherwise,  to  the  collector  of  such  port  or 
place,  or  some  officer  or  other  person  there,  or  nearest  thereto, 
who  shall  be  authorized  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to 
register  aliens  :  And  report,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  made  in  all 
cases  of  residence,  within  six  months  from  and  after  the  passing 
of  this  act,  and  in  all  after  cases,  within  forty-eight  hours  after  the 
first  arrival  or  coming  into  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and 
shall  ascertain  the  sex,  place  of  birth,  age,  nation,  place  of  alle 
giance  or  citizenship,  condition  or  occupation,  and  place  of  actual 
or  intended  residence  within  the  United  States,  of  the  alien  or 
aliens  reported,  and  by  whom  the  report  is  made.  [The  report 
to  be  recorded,  &c.]  And  the  clerk  of  each  district  court  shall, 
during  one  year  from  the  passing  of  this  act,  make  monthly 
returns  to  the  department  of  State,  of  all  aliens  registered  and 
returned,  as  aforesaid,  in  his  office. 

SEC.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  every  alien  who  shall 
continue  to  reside,  or  who  shall  arrive,  as  aforesaid,  of  whom  a 
report  is  required  as  aforesaid,  who  shall  refuse  or  neglect  to 
make  such  report,  and  to  receive  a  certificate  thereof,  shall  forfeit 
and  pay  the  sum  of  two  dollars ;  and  any  justice  of  the  peace,  or 
other  civil  magistrate,  who  has  authority  to  require  surety  of  the 
peace,  shall  and  may,  on  complaint  to  him  made  thereof,  cause 
such  alien  to  be  brought  before  him,  there  to  give  surety  of  the 
peace  and  good  behaviour  during  his  residence  within  the  United 
States,  or  for  such  term  as  the  justice  or  other  magistrate  shall 
deem  reasonable,  and  until  a  report  and  registry  of  such  alien 
shall  be  made,  and  a  certificate  thereof,  received  as  aforesaid ; 
and  in  failure  of  such  surety,  such  alien  shall  and  may  be  com 
mitted  to  the  common  gaol,  and  shall  be  there  held,  until  the 
order  which  the  justice  or  magistrate  shall  and  may  reasonably 
make,  in  the  premises,  shall  be  performed.  And  every  person, 
whether  alien,  or  other,  having  the  care  of  any  alien  or  aliens, 
under  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  or  of  any  white  alien  holden 
in  service,  who  shall  refuse  and  neglect  to  make  report  thereof,  as 
aforesaid,  shall  forfeit  the  sum  of  two  dollars,  for  each  and  every 


1798]  ALIEN  ACT  141 

such  minor  or  servant,  monthly,  and  every  month,  until  a  report 
and  registry,  and  a  certificate  thereof,  shall  be  had,  as  aforesaid. 

SEC.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  respect  to  every 
alien,  who  shall  come  to  reside  within  the  United  States  after 
the  passing  of  this  act,  the  time  of  the  registry  of  such  alien  shall 
be  taken  to  be  the  time  when  the  term  of  residence  within  the 
limits,  and  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  shall  have 
commenced,  in  case  of  an  application  by  such  alien,  to  be  ad 
mitted  a  citizen  of  the  United  States ;  and  a  certificate  of  such 
registry  shall  be  required,  in  proof  of  the  term  of  residence,  by 
the  court  to  whom  such  application  shall  and  may  be  made. 

SEC.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  and  singular  the 
penalties  established  by  this  act,  shall  and  may  be  recovered  in 
the  name,  and  to  the  use  of  any  person,  who  will  inform  and  sue 
for  the  same,  before  any  judge,  justice,  or  court,  having  jurisdic 
tion  in  such  case,  and  to  the  amount  of  such  penalty,  respectively. 


No.    1 8.     Alien  Act 

June  25,  1798 

APRIL  25,  1798,  Senator  Hillhouse  of  Connecticut  introduced  a  resolution 
for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  "  to  consider  whether  any,  and  what  pro 
visions  ought  to  be  made  by  law,  for  removing  from  the  territory  of  the  United 
States,  such  aliens  born,  not  entitled  by  the  Constitution  and  laws  thereof  to 
the  rights  of  citizenship,  as  may  be  dangerous  to  its  peace  and  safety;  and 
providing  for  returns  to  be  made  of  all  aliens  that  shall  be  landed  from  any 
vessel  which  shall  arrive  in  any  of  the  ports  of  the  United  States;  and  that 
permits  be  granted  to  such  as  shall  be  suffered  to  reside  therein;  and  to  report 
by  bill  or  otherwise."  The  next  day  the  resolution,  with  the  word  "born" 
stricken  out,  was  adopted.  May  4  the  committee  reported  a  bill,  which  was 
read  a  second  time  May  8,  and  debated  until  June  I,  when  it  was  recommitted. 
An  amended  bill  was  reported  June  4,  and  passed,  with  further  amendments, 
June  8,  by  a  vote  of  1 6  to  7.  The  bill  was  taken  up  in  the  House  June  1 8, 
and  passed  with  amendments  on  the  2ist,  by  a  vote  of  46  to  40.  On  the 
22d  the  Senate  concurred  in  the  House  amendments;  on  the  25th  the  act  was 
approved. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  I.,  570-572. 

An  Act  concerning  Aliens, 

SECTION  i.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 


142  ALIEN   ACT  [June  25 

That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  President  of  the  United  States  at 
any  time  during  the  continuance  of  this  act,  to  order  all  such 
aliens  as  he  shall  judge  dangerous  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 
United  States,  or  shall  have  reasonable  grounds  to  suspect  are 
concerned  in  any  treasonable  or  secret  machinations  against  the 
government  thereof,  to  depart  out  of  the  territory  of  the  United 
States,  within  such  time  as  shall  be  expressed  in  such  order,  which 
order  shall  be  served  on  such  alien  by  delivering  him  a  copy 
thereof,  or  leaving  the  same  at  his  usual  abode,  and  returned  to 
the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  by  the  marshal  or  other  per 
son  to  whom  the  same  shall  be  directed.  And  in  case  any  alien, 
so  ordered  to  depart,  shall  be  found  at  large  within  the  United 
States  after  the  time  limited  in  such  order  for  his  departure,  and 
not  having  obtained  a  license  from  the  President  to  reside  therein, 
or  having  obtained  such  license  shall  not  have  conformed  thereto, 
every  such  alien  shall,  on  conviction  thereof,  be  imprisoned  for  a 
term  not  exceeding  three  years,  and  shall  never  after  be  admitted 
to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  Provided  always,  and 
be  it  further  enacted,  that  if  any  alien  so  ordered  to  depart  shall 
prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  President,  by  evidence  to  be  taken 
before  such  person  or  persons  as  the  President  shall  direct,  who 
are  for  that  purpose  hereby  authorized  to  administer  oaths,  that 
no  injury  or  danger  to  the  United  States  will  arise  from  suffering 
such  alien  to  reside  therein,  the  President  may  grant  a  license  to 
such  alien  to  remain  within  the  United  States  for  such  time  as  he 
shall  judge  proper,  and  at  such  place  as  he  may  designate.  And 
the  President  may  also  require  of  such  alien  to  enter  into  a  bond 
to  the  United  States,  in  such  penal  sum  as  he  may  direct,  with 
one  or  more  sufficient  sureties  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  person 
authorized  by  the  President  to  take  the  same,  conditioned  for  the 
good  behavior  of  such  alien  during  his  residence  in  the  United 
States,  and  not  violating  his  license,  which  license  the  President 
may  revoke,  whenever  he  shall  think  proper. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  whenever  he  may  deem  it  neces 
sary  for  the  public  safety,  to  order  to  be  removed  out  of  the  terri 
tory  thereof,  any  alien  who  may  or  shall  be  in  prison  in  pursuance 
of  this  act ;  and  to  cause  to  be  arrested  and  sent  out  of  the  United 
States  such  of  those  aliens  as  shall  have  been  ordered  to  depart 
therefrom  and  shall  not  have  obtained  a  license  as  aforesaid,  in 


1798]  ALIEN   ACT  143 

all  cases  where,  in  the  opinion  of  the  President,  the  public  safety 
requires  a  speedy  removal.  And  if  any  alien  so  removed  or  sent 
out  of  the  United  States  by  the  President  shall  voluntarily  return 
thereto,  unless  by  permission  of  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
such  alien  on  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  imprisoned  so  long  as, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  President,  the  public  safety  may  require. 

SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  every  master  or  com 
mander  of  any  ship  or  vessel  which  shall  come  into  any  port  of 
the  United  States  after  the  first  day  of  July  next,  shall  immediately 
on  his  arrival  make  report  in  writing  to  the  collector  or  other 
chief  officer  of  the  customs  of  such  port,  of  all  aliens,  if  any,  on 
board  his  vessel,  specifying  their  names,  age,  the  place  of  nativity, 
the  country  from  which  they  shall  have  come,  the  nation  to  which 
they  belong  and  owe  allegiance,  their  occupation  and  a  descrip 
tion  of  their  persons,  as  far  as  he  shall  be  informed  thereof,  and 
on  failure,  every  such  master  and  commander  shall  forfeit  and  pay 
three  hundred  dollars,  for  the  payment  whereof  on  default  of  such 
master  or  commander,  such  vessel  shall  also  be  holden,  and  may 
by  such  collector  or  other  officer  of  the  customs  be  detained.  And 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  collector  or  other  officer  of  the  customs, 
forthwith  tcgjtransmit  to  the  office  of  the  department  of  state  true 
copies  of  air  such  returns. 

SEC.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  circuit  and  district 
courts  of  the  United  States,  shall  respectively  have  cognizance  of 
all  crimes  and  offences  against  this  act.  And  all  marshals  and 
other  officers  of  the  United  States  are  required  to  execute  all 
precepts  and  orders  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  issued 
in  pursuance  or  by  virtue  of  this  act. 

SEC.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for 
any  alien  who  may  be  ordered  to  be  removed  from  the  United 
States,  by  virtue  of  this  act,  to  take  with  him  such  part  of  his 
goods,  chattels,  or  other  property,  as  he  may  find  convenient ; 
and  all  property  left  in  the  United  States  by  any  alien,  who  may 
be  removed,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be,  and  remain  subject  to  his  order 
and  disposal,  in  the  same  manner  as  if  this  act  had  not  been 
passed. 

SEC.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  act  shall  continue 
and  be  in  force  for  and  during  the  term  of  two  years  from  the 
passing  thereof.* 

*  The  act  was  not  renewed.  —  ED. 


144  ALIEN   ENEMIES  ACT  [July  6 

No.    19.     Alien   Enemies  Act 

July  6,  1798 

A  "bill  respecting  alien  enemies"  was  introduced  in  the  House  May  18, 
1798,  considered  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  22d,  and  the  next 
day,  by  a  vote  of  46  to  44,  recommitted.  The  committee  reported  an  amended 
bill  June  8  ;  on  the  same  day  the  "  act  concerning  aliens  "  was  received  from 
the  Senate,  and  both  bills  were  made  the  order  of  the  day  for  June  n.  The 
alien  enemies  bill  was  not  reached  until  the  25th;  the  next  day  it  passed  the 
House.  On  the  27th  the  Senate  referred  the  bill  to  the  committee  having  also 
in  charge  the  sedition  bill;  this  committee  reported  an  amended  bill  July  2, 
which  passed  the  Senate  on  the  3d.  On  the  same  day  the  House  agreed  to 
the  Senate  amendments,  and  on  the  6th  the  act  was  approved. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  I.,  577,  578.  Compare 
Revised  Statutes  (ed.  1878),  sees.  4067-4070.  The  text  of  the  bill  introduced 
May  1 8  is  in  the  Annals,  5th  Cong.,  under  date  of  May  22. 

An  Act  respecting  Alien  Enemies. 

SECTION  i.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  whenever  there  shall  be  a  declared  war  betweer^the  United 
States  and  any  foreign  nation  or  government,  or  any  invasion  or 
predatory  incursion  shall  be  perpetrated,  attempted,  or  threatened 
against  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  by  any  foreign  nation 
or  government,  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  make 
public  proclamation  of  the  event,  all  natives,  citizens,  denizens,  or 
subjects  of  the  hostile  nation  or  government,  being  males  of  the 
age  of  fourteen  years  and  upwards,  who  shall  be  within  the  United 
States,  and  not  actually  naturalized,  shall  be  liable  to  be  appre 
hended,  restrained,  secured  and  removed,  as  alien  enemies.  And 
the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  be,  and  he  is  hereby 
authorized,  in  any  event,  as  aforesaid,  by  his  proclamation  thereof, 
or  other  public  act,  to  direct  the  conduct  to  be  observed,  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States,  towards  the  aliens  who  shall  become 
liable,  as  aforesaid ;  the  manner  and  degree  of  the  restraint  to 
which  they  shall  be  subject,  and  in  what  cases,  and  upon  what 
security  their  residence  shall  be  permitted,  and  to  provide  for  the 
removal  of  those,  who,  not  being  permitted  to  reside  within  the 
United  States,  shall  refuse  or  neglect  to  depart  therefrom ;  and  to 
establish  any  other  regulations  which  shall  be  found  necessary  in 


1798]  ALIEN   ENEMIES  ACT  145 

the  premises  and  for  the  public  safety  :  Provided,  that  aliens  resi 
dent  within  the  United  States,  who  shall  become  liable  as  enemies, 
in  the  manner  aforesaid,  and  who  shall  not  be  chargeable  with 
actual  hostility,  or  other  crime  against  the  public  safety,  shall  be 
allowed,  for  the  recovery,  disposal,  and  removal  of  their  goods  and 
effects,  and  for  their  departure,  the  full  time  which  is,  or  shall  be 
stipulated  by  any  treaty,  where  any  shall  have  been  between  the 
United  States,  and  the  hostile  nation  or  government,  of  which 
they  shall  be  natives,  citizens,  denizens  or  subjects  :  and  when  no 
such  treaty  shall  have  existed,  the  President  of  the  United  States 
may  ascertain  and  declare  such  reasonable  time  as  may  be  con 
sistent  with  the  public  safety,  and  according  to  the  dictates  of 
humanity  and  national  hospitality. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  after  any  proclamation 
shall  be  made  as  aforesaid,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  several 
courts  of  the  United  States,  and  of  each  state,  having  criminal 
jurisdiction,  and  of  the  several  judges  and  justices  of  the  courts  of 
the  United  States,  and  they  shall  be,  and  are  hereby  respectively, 
authorized  upon  complaint,  against  any  alien  or  alien  enemies,  as 
aforesaid,  who  shall  be  resident  and  at  large  within  such  jurisdic 
tion  or  district,  to  the  danger  of  the  public  peace  or  safety,  and 
contrary  to  the  tenor  or  intent  of  such  proclamation,  or  other 
regulations  which  the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  and 
may  establish  in  the  premises,  to  cause  such  alien  or  aliens  to  be 
duly  apprehended  and  convened  before  such  court,  judge  or  jus 
tice  ;  and  after  a  full  examination  and  hearing  on  such  complaint, 
and  sufficient  cause  therefor  appearing,  shall  and  may  order  such 
alien  or  aliens  to  be  removed  out  of  the  territory  of  the  United 
States,  or  to  give  sureties  of  their  good  behaviour,  or  to  be  other 
wise  restrained,  conformably  to  the  proclamation  or  regulations 
which  shall  or  may  be  established  as  aforesaid,  and  may  imprison, 
or  otherwise  secure  such  alien  or  aliens,  until  the  order  which 
shall  and  may  be  made,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  performed. 

SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  marshal  of  the  district  in  which  any  alien  enemy  shall  be 
apprehended,  who  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  or  by 
order  of  any  court,  judge  or  justice,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  required 
to  depart,  and  to  be  removed,  as  aforesaid,  to  provide  therefor, 
and  to  execute  such  order,  by  himself  or  his  deputy,  or  other  dis 
creet  person  or  persons  to  be  employed  by  him,  by  causing  a 
L 


146  SEDITION  ACT  [July  14 

removal  of  such  alien  out  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States ; 
and  for  such  removal  the  marshal  shall  have  the  warrant  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  court,  judge  or  justice 
ordering  the  same,  as  the  case  may  be. 


No.  20.     Sedition  Act 

July  14,  1798 

JUNE  23,  1798,  Senator  Lloyd  of  Maryland  gave  notice  of  his  intention  to 
ask  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  "  to  define  more  particularly  the  crime  of  trea 
son,  and  to  define  and  punish  the  crime  of  sedition."  When  the  matter  came 
up  on  the  26th,  a  motion  was  made  to  refer  the  request  to  a  committee;  the 
motion  was  lost,  the  vote  being  4  to  17,  and  by  a  vote  of  14  to  8  leave  was 
given  to  introduce  the  bill.  The  next  day  the  bill,  by  a  vote  of  15  to  6,  was 
referred  to  a  committee.  Amendments  to  the  bill  were  reported  by  the  com 
mittee  July  2,  agreed  to  on  the  3d,  and  the  bill,  by  a  vote  of  18  to  5,  ordered 
to  a  third  reading.  On  the  4th  the  bill  passed,  the  vote  being  18  to  6.  In 
the  House  the  following  day  a  motion  to  reject  the  bill  was  defeated,  36  to  47. 
July  6  an  attempt  to  refer  the  bill  to  a  select  committee  also  failed,  and  a  set 
of  resolutions  for  the  punishment  of  seditious  writers,  submitted  by  Harper  of 
South  Carolina,  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House.  The 
sedition  bill  was  considered  July  9  ;  all  except  the  first  section  of  the  Senate 
bill  was  stricken  out  and  new  sections  inserted  ;  on  the  loth  the  amended 
bill,  by  vote  of  44  to  41,  passed  the  House.  On  the  I2th  the  Senate  con 
curred  in  the  House  amendments  ;  on  the  I4th  the  act  was  approved. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  I.,  596,  597.  An  abstract  of 
the  Senate  bill  is  in  the  Annals,  5th  Cong.,  II.,  2093.  Harper's  resolutions 
are  in  the  House  Journal,  also  in  the  Annals.  For  prosecutions  under  the 
sedition  act,  see  Wharton's  State  Trials,  333,  659,  684,  688. 

An  Act  in  addition  to  the  act,  entitled  "An  Act  for  the  punishment 
of  certain  crimes  against  the  United  States." 

SECTION  i.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  if  any  persons  shall  unlawfully  combine  or  conspire  together, 
with  intent  to  oppose  any  measure  or  measures  of  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  which  are  or  shall  be  directed  by  proper 
authority,  or  to  impede  the  operation  of  any  law  of  the  United 
States,  or  to  intimidate  or  prevent  any  person  holding  a  place  or 


1798]  SEDITION  ACT  147 

office  in  or  under  the  government  of  the  United  States,  from 
undertaking,  performing  or  executing  his  trust  or  duty ;  and  if 
any  person  or  persons,  with  intent  as  aforesaid,  shall  counsel, 
advise  or  attempt  to  procure  any  insurrection,  riot,  unlawful  assem 
bly,  or  combination,  whether  such  conspiracy,  threatening,  coun 
sel,  advice,  or  attempt  shall  have  the  proposed  effect  or  not,  he  or 
they  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanor,  and  on  con 
viction,  before  any  court  of  the  United  States  having  jurisdiction 
thereof,  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  five  thousand 
dollars,  and  by  imprisonment  during  a  term  not  less  than  six 
months  nor  exceeding  five  years ;  and  further,  at  the  discretion 
of  the  court  may  be  holden  to  find  sureties  for  his  good  behaviour 
in  such  sum,  and  for  such  time,  as  the  said  court  may  direct. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  if  any  person  shall 
write,  print,  utter  or  publish,  or  shall  cause  or  procure  to  be 
written,  printed,  uttered  or  published,  or  shall  knowingly  and 
willingly  assist  or  aid  in  writing,  printing,  uttering  or  publishing 
any  false,  scandalous  and  malicious  writing  or  writings  against  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  or  either  house  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  or  the  President  of  the  United  States,  with 
intent  to  defame  the  said  government,  or  either  house  of  the  said 
Congress,  or  the  said  President,  or  to  bring  them,  or  either  of 
them,  into  contempt  or  disrepute ;  or  to  excite  against  them,  or 
either  or  any  of  them,  the  hatred  of  the  good  people  of  the  United 
States,  or  to  stir  up  sedition  within  the  United  States,  or  to  excite 
any  unlawful  combinations  therein,  for  opposing  or  resisting  any 
law  of  the  United  States,  or  any  act  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  done  in  pursuance  of  any  such  law,  or  of  the  powers  in 
him  vested  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  or  to  resist, 
oppose,  or  defeat  any  such  law  or  act,  or  to  aid,  encourage  or 
abet  any  hostile  designs  of  any  foreign  nation  against  the  United 
States,  their  people  or  government,  then  such  person,  being 
thereof  convicted  before  any  court  of  the  United  States  having 
jurisdiction  thereof,  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  not  exceeding 
two  thousand  dollars,  and  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  two 
years. 

SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted  and  declared,  That  if  any 
person  shall  be  prosecuted  under  this  act,  for  the  writing  or  pub 
lishing  any  libel  aforesaid,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  defendant, 
upon  the  trial  of  the  cause,  to  give  in  evidence  in  his  defence,  the 


148  KENTUCKY  AND  VIRGINIA   RESOLUTIONS     [1798,  1799 

truth  of  the  matter  contained  in  the  publication  charged  as  a  libel. 
And  the  jury  who  shall  try  the  cause,  shall  have  a  right  to  deter 
mine  the  law  and  the  fact,  under  the  direction  of  the  court,  as  in 
other  cases. 

SEC.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  act  shall  continue 
and  be  in  force  until  the  third  day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  one,  and  no  longer :  *  Provided,  that  the  expiration 
of  the  act  shall  not  prevent  or  defeat  a  prosecution  and  punish 
ment  of  any  offence  against  the  law,  during  the  time  it  shall  be  in 
force. 


Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions 
1798,  1799 

THE  Virginia  resolutions  of  1798  and  the  Kentucky  resolutions  of  1798  and 
1799  were  outcomes  of  the  discussion  over  the  alien  and  sedition  laws.  The 
legislature  of  Kentucky  met  Nov.  7,  1798,  and  on  the  following  day  John 
B-reckinridge  introduced  in  the  House  a  set  of  resolutions,  the  original  draft 
of  which  had  been  prepared  by  Jefferson.  The  resolutions,  with  amendments, 
were  adopted  by  the  House  on  the  loth;  on  the  I3th  the  Senate  concurred, 
and  on  the  i6th  the  resolutions  received  the  approval  of  the  governor.  A  set 
of  resolutions  prepared  by  Madison,  then  a  member  of  the  Virginia  legislature, 
was  presented  in  that  body  Dec.  13,  1798,  by  John  Taylor.  The  resolutions 
were  debated  until  the  2ist,  when,  by  a  vote  of  100  to  63,  they  were  adopted: 
on  the  24th  they  passed  the  Senate,  the  vote  being  14  to  3,  and  were  approved 
by  the  governor.  Copies  of  each  set  of  resolutions  were  transmitted  to  the 
governors  of  the  various  States  to  be  laid  before  the  legislatures.  Replies 
were  made  by  the  legislatures  of  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  and  Delaware,  and  in  each  case  were 
"  decidedly  unfavorable."  In  1 799  Kentucky  reaffirmed  its  adherence  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  resolutions  of  1798,  and  added  another  resolution.  In  Virginia 
the  replies  of  the  State  legislatures  were  referred  to  a  committee,  of  which 
Madison  was  chairman,  which  made  an  elaborate  report  Jan.  7,  1800. 

REFERENCES.  —  For  the  texts,  see  under  each  set  of  resolutions,  following. 
The  answers  of  the  State  legislatures  are  in  Elliot's  Debates  (ed.  1836),  IV., 
558-565,  where  are  also  Madison's  report  of  1800,  and  extracts  from  an 
"  address  to  the  people  "  accompanying  the  Virginia  resolutions.  Madison's 
report  is  also  in  his  Writings  (ed.  1865),  IV.,  515-555;  see  also  various 
letters  of  Madison,  ib.,  II.,  151-156;  IV.,  95-111.  Warfield's  Kentucky 
Resolutions  of  ijgS  is  of  special  importance;  cf.  review  in  Nation,  XLV.,  528, 
529,  and  correspondence  in  ib.,  XLIV.,  382-384,  467,  468.  See  also  John 
ston,  in  Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  II.,  672-677;  Von  Hoist's  United  States,  I., 
chap.  4. 

*  The  act  was  not  renewed.  —  ED. 


1798]  KENTUCKY   RESOLUTIONS  149 

No.    21.     Kentucky   Resolutions 

November  16,   1798 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Shaler's  Kentucky,  409-416,  certified  as  a  true 
copy  of  the  original  in  the  Massachusetts  archives.  The  formal  endorsements 
at  the  end  are  omitted.  Jefferson's  draft  is  in  his  Works  (ed.  1856),  IX., 
464-471. 

KENTUCKY  LEGISLATURE. 
In  the  House  of  Representatives,  November  10,  1798. 

The  House,  according  to  the  standing  order  of  the  day,  resolved 
itself  into  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  state  of  the  Common 
wealth,  Mr.  Caldwell  in  the  chair.  And  after  some  time  spent 
therein  the  Speaker  resumed  the  chair,  and  Mr.  Caldwell  reported 
that  the  Committee  had,  according  to  order,  had  under  considera 
tion  the  Governor's  Address,  and  had  come  to  the  following 
Resolutions  thereupon,  which  he  delivered  in  at  the  clerk's  table, 
where  they  were  twice  read  and  agreed  to  by  the  House. 

I.  Resolved,  that  the  several  States  composing  the  United  States 
of  America,  are  not  united  on  the  principle  of  unlimited  submis 
sion  to  their  general  government ;  but  that  by  compact  under  the 
style  and  title  of  a  Constitution  for  the  United  States  and  of  amend 
ments  thereto,  they  constituted  a  general  government  for  special 
purposes,  delegated  to  that  government  certain  definite  powers, 
reserving  each  State  to  itself,  the  residuary  mass  of  right  to  their 
own  self-government ;  and  that  whensoever  the  general  govern 
ment  assumes  undelegated   powers,  its  acts  are  unauthoritative, 
void,  and  of  no  force  :  That  to  this  compact  each  State  acceded 
as  a  State,  and  is  an  integral  party,  its  co-States  forming,  as  to 
itself,  the  other  party  :  That  the  government  created  by  this  com 
pact  was  not  made  the  exclusive  or  final  judge  of  the  extent  of 
the  powers  delegated  to  itself;  since  that  would  have  made  its 
discretion,  and  not  the  Constitution,  the  measure  of  its  powers ; 
but  that  as  in  all  other  cases  of  compact  among  parties  having  no 

,  common  Judge,  each  party  has  an  equal  right  to  judge  for  itself, 
as  well  of  infractions  as  of  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress. 

II.  Resolved,  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  having 
delegated  to  Congress  a  power  to  punish  treason,  counterfeiting 
the  securities  and  current  coin  of  the  United  States,  piracies  and 


150  KENTUCKY   RESOLUTIONS  [Nov.  16 

felonies  committed  on  the  high  seas,  and  offenses  against  the  laws 
of  nations,  and  no  other  crimes  whatever,  and  it  being  true  as  a 
general  principle,  and  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
having  also  declared  "  that  the  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are 
reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  people,"  therefore 
also  the  same  act  of  Congress  passed  on  the  i4th  day  of  July, 
1798,  and  entitled  "An  act  in  addition  to  the  act  entitled  an  act 
for  the  punishment  of  certain  crimes  against  the  United  States ; " 
as  also  the  act  passed  by  them  on  the  2yth  day  of  June,  1798, 
entitled  "  An  act  to  punish  frauds  committed  on  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  "  (and  all  other  their  acts  which  assume  to  create, 
define,  or  punish  crimes  other  than  those  enumerated  in  the  Con 
stitution),  are  altogether  void  and  of  no  force,  and  that  the  power 
to  create,  define,  and  punish  such  other  crimes  is  reserved,  and 
of  right  appertains  solely  and  exclusively  to  the  respective  States, 
each  within  its  own  Territory. 

III.  Resolved,  that  it  is  true  as  a  general  principle,  and  is  also 
expressly  declared  by  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
that  "  the  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Con 
stitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the 
States  respectively  or  to  the  people ; "  and  that  no  power  over 
the  freedom  of  religion,  freedom  of  speech,  or  freedom  of  the 
press  being  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution, 
nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  all  lawful  powers  respecting  the 
same  did  of  right  remain,  and  were  reserved  to  the  States,  or  to 
the  people  :  That  thus  was  manifested  their  determination  to 
retain  to  themselves  the  right  of  judging  how  far  the  licentious 
ness  of  speech  and  of  the  press  may  be  abridged  without  lessening 
their  useful  freedom,  and  how  far  those  abuses  which  cannot  be 
separated  from  their  use  should  be  tolerated  rather  than  the  use 
be  destroyed  ;  and  thus  also  they  guarded  against  all  abridgment 
by  the  United  States  of  the  freedom  of  religious  opinions  and 
exercises,  and  retained  to  themselves  the  right  of  protecting  the 
same,  as  this  State,  by  a  law  passed  on  the  general  demand  of  its 
citizens,  had  already  protected  them  from  all  human  restraint  or 
interference  :  And  that  in  addition  to  this  general  principle  and 
express  declaration,  another  and  more  special  provision  has  been 
made  by  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution  which 
expressly  declares,  that  "  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting 


1798]  KENTUCKY   RESOLUTIONS  151 

an  establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise 
thereof,  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press," 
thereby  guarding  in  the  same  sentence,  and  under  the  same 
words,  the  freedom  of  religion,  of  speech,  and  of  the  press,  inso 
much,  that  whatever  violates  either,  throws  down  the  sanctuary 
which  covers  the  others,  and  that  libels,  falsehoods,  defamation 
equally  with  heresy  and  false  religion,  are  withheld  from  the  cog 
nizance  of  Federal  tribunals.  That  therefore  the  act  of  the  Con 
gress  of  the  United  States  passed  on  the  i4th  day  of  July,  1798, 
entitled  "  An  act  in  addition  to  the  act  for  the  punishment  of  cer 
tain  crimes  against  the  United  States,"  which  does  abridge  the 
freedom  of  the  press,  is  not  law,  but  is  altogether  void  and  of  no 
effect. 

IV.  Resolved,  that  alien  friends  are  under  the  jurisdiction  and 
protection  of  the  laws  of  the  State  wherein  they  are ;    that  no 
power  over  them  has  been  delegated  to  the  United  States,  nor 
prohibited  to  the  individual  States  distinct  from  their  power  over 
citizens ;  and  it  being  true  as  a  general  principle,  and  one  of  the 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  having  also  declared  that  "  the 
powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution, 
nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  re 
spectively,  or  to  the  people,"  the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  passed  on  the   22d  day  of  June,  1798,  entitled  "An  act 
concerning  aliens,"  which  assumes  power  over  alien  friends  not 
delegated  by  the  Constitution,  is  not  law,  but  is  altogether  void 
and  of  no  force. 

V.  Resolved,  that  in  addition  to  the  general  principle  as  well 
as  the  express  declaration,  that  powers  not  delegated  are  reserved, 
another  and  more  special  provision  inserted  in  the  Constitution 
from  abundant  caution  has  declared,  "  that  the  migration  or  im 
portation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States  now  existing  shall 
think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress 
prior  to  the  year  1808."     That  this  Commonwealth  does  admit 
the  migration  of  alien  friends  described  as  the  subject  of  the  said 
act  concerning  aliens;  that  a  provision  against  prohibiting  their 
migration  is  a  provision  against  all  acts  equivalent  thereto,  or  it 
would  be  nugatory  ;  that  to  remove  them  when  migrated  is  equiva 
lent  to  a  prohibition  of  their  migration,  and  is  therefore  contrary 
to  the  said  provision  of  the  Constitution,  and  void. 

VI.  Resolved,  that  the  imprisonment  of  a  person  under  the  pro' 


152  KENTUCKY   RESOLUTIONS  [Nov.  16 

tection  of  the  laws  of  this  Commonwealth  on  his  failure  to  obey 
the  simple  order  of  the  President  to  depart  out  of  the  United 
States,  as  is  undertaken  by  the  said  act  entitled  "  An  act  concern 
ing  aliens,"  is  contrary  to  the  Constitution,  one  amendment  to 
which  has  provided,  that  "  no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  liberty 
without  due  process  of  law,"  and  that  another  having  provided 
"  that  in  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the 
right  to  a  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury,  to  be  informed  of  the 
nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation,  to  be  confronted  with  the  wit 
nesses  against  him,  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining 
witnesses  in  his  favour,  and  to  have  the  assistance  of  counsel  for 
his  defense,"  the  same  act  undertaking  to  authorize  the  President 
to  remove  a  person  out  of  the  United  States  who  is  under  the 
protection  of  the  law,  on  his  own  suspicion,  without  accusation, 
without  jury,  without  public  trial,  without  confrontation  of  the 
witnesses  against  him,  without  having  witnesses  in  his  favour, 
without  defense,  without  counsel,  is  contrary  to  these  provisions 
also  of  the  Constitution,  is  therefore  not  law,  but  utterly  void  and 
of  no  force.  That  transferring  the  power  of  judging  any  person 
who  is  under  the  protection  of  the  laws,  from  the  courts  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  as  is  undertaken  by  the  same  act 
concerning  aliens,  is  against  the  article  of  the  Constitution  which 
provides,  that  "  the  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
vested  in  courts,  the  judges  of  which  shall  hold  their  offices  during 
good  behavior,"  and  that  the  said  act  is  void  for  that  reason  also ; 
and  it  is  further  to  be  noted,  that  this  transfer  of  judiciary  power 
is  to  that  magistrate  of  the  general  government  who  already  pos 
sesses  all  the  executive,  and  a  qualified  negative  in  all  the  legis 
lative  powers. 

VII.  Resolved,  that  the  construction  applied  by  the  general 
government  (as  is  evinced  by  sundry  of  their  proceedings)  to 
those  parts  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  which  dele 
gate  to  Congress  a  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts, 
and  excises ;  to  pay  the  debts,  and  provide  for  the  common 
defense,  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States,  and  to  make 
all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  exe 
cution  the  powers  vested  by  the  Constitution  in  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  or  any  department  thereof,  goes  to  the 
destruction  of  all  the  limits  prescribed  to  their  power  by  the  Con 
stitution  :  That  words  meant  by  that  instrument  to  be  subsiduary 


1798]  KENTUCKY  RESOLUTIONS  153 

only  to  the  execution  of  the  limited  powers  ought  not  to  be  so 
construed  as  themselves  to  give  unlimited  powers,  nor  a  part  so 
to  be  taken  as  to  destroy  the  whole  residue  of  the  instrument : 
That  the  proceedings  of  the  general  government  under  color  of 
these  articles  will  be  a  fit  and  necessary  subject  for  revisal  and 
correction  at  a  time  of  greater  tranquillity,  while  those  specified 
in  the  preceding  resolutions  call  for  immediate  redress. 

VIII.  Resolved,  that  the  preceding  Resolutions  be  transmitted 
to  the  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  from  this  Com 
monwealth,  who  are  hereby  enjoined  to  present  the  same  to  their 
respective  Houses,  and  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to  procure,  at 
the  next  session  of  Congress,  a  repeal  of  the  aforesaid  unconstitu-', 
tional  and  obnoxious  acts. 

IX.  Resolved,  lastly,  that  the  Governor  of  this  Commonwealth 
be,  and  is  hereby  authorized  and  requested  to  communicate  the 
preceding  Resolutions  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  to 
assure  them  that  this  Commonwealth  considers  Union  for  specified 
National  purposes,  and  particularly  for  those  specified  in  their 
late  Federal  Compact,  to  be  friendly  to  the  peace,  happiness,  and 
prosperity  of  all  the  States :  that  faithful  to  that  compact  accord 
ing  to  the  plain  intent  and  meaning  in  which  it  was  understood 
and  acceded  to  by  the  several  parties,  it  is  sincerely  anxious  for 
its  preservation  :  that  it  does  also  believe,  that  to  take  from  the 
States  all  the  powers  of  self-government,  and  transfer  them  to  a 
general   and    consolidated    government,    without   regard    to    the 
special  delegations  and  reservations   solemnly  agreed  to  in  that 
compact,  is  not  for  the  peace,  happiness,  or  prosperity  of  these 
States  :    And  that,  therefore,  this  Commonwealth  is  determined, 
as  it  doubts  not  its  co-States  are,  tamely  to  submit  to  undelegated 
and  consequently  unlimited  powers  in  no  man  or  body  of  men  on 
earth  :  that  if  the  acts  before  specified  should  stand,  these  conclu 
sions  would  flow  from  them  ;  that  the  general  government  may 
place  any  act  they  think  proper  on  the  list  of  crimes  and  punish  it 
themselves,  whether  enumerated  or  not  enumerated  by  the  Con 
stitution  as  cognizable  by  them  :  that  they  may  transfer  its  cog 
nizance  to  the  President  or  any  other  person,  who  may  himself  be 
the  accuser,  counsel,  judge,  and  jury,  whose  suspicions  may  be 
the  evidence,  his  order  the  sentence,  his  officer  the  executioner, 
and  his  breast  the   sole  record  of  the  transaction :    that  a  very 
numerous  and  valuable  description  of  the  inhabitants  of  these 


154  KENTUCKY    RESOLUTIONS  [Nov.  16 

States  being  by  this  precedent  reduced  as  outlaws  to  the  absolute 
dominion  of  one  man,  and  the  barrier  of  the  Constitution  thus 
swept  away  from  us  all,  no  rampart  now  remains  against  the  pas 
sions  and  the  powers  of  a  majority  of  Congress,  to  protect  from  a 
like  exportation  or  other  more  grievous  punishment  the  minority 
of  the  same  body,  the  legislatures,  judges,  governors,  and  coun 
selors  of  the  States,  nor  their  other  peaceable  inhabitants  who  may 
venture  to  reclaim  the  constitutional  rights  and  liberties  of  the 
State  and  people,  or  who  for  other  causes,  good  or  bad,  may  be 
obnoxious  to  the  views  or  marked  by  the  suspicions  of  the  Presi 
dent,  or  be  thought  dangerous  to  his  or  their  elections  or  other 
interests,  public  or  personal :  that  the  friendless  alien  has  indeed 
been  selected  as  the  safest  subject  of  a  first  experiment,  but  the 
citizen  will  soon  follow,  or  rather  has  already  followed :  for, 
already  has  a  sedition  act  marked  him  as  its  prey  :  that  these 
and  successive  acts  of  the  same  character,  unless  arrested  on  the 
threshold,  may  tend  to  drive  these  States  into  revolution  and 
blood,  and  will  furnish  new  calumnies  against  Republican  govern 
ments,  and  new  pretexts  for  those  who  wish  it  to  be  believed,  that 
man  cannot  be  governed  but  by  a  rod  of  iron  :  that  it  would  be  a 
dangerous  delusion  were  a  confidence  in  the  men  of  our  choice  to 
silence  our  fears  for  the  safety  of  our  rights :  that  confidence  is 
everywhere  the  parent  of  despotism  :  free  government  is  founded 
in  jealousy  and  not  in  confidence ;  it  is  jealousy  and  not  confi 
dence  which  prescribes  limited  Constitutions  to  bind  down  those 
whom  we  are  obliged  to  trust  with  power :  that  our  Constitution 
has  accordingly  fixed  the  limits  to  which  and  no  further  our  con 
fidence  may  go ;  and  let  the  honest  advocate  of  confidence  read 
the  alien  and  sedition  acts,  and  say  if  the  Constitution  has  not 
been  wise  in  fixing  limits  to  the  government  it  created,  and 
whether  we  should  be  wise  in  destroying  those  limits ;  let  him  say 
what  the  government  is  if  it  be  not  a  tyranny,  which  the  men  of 
our  choice  have  conferred  on  the  President,  and  the  President  of 
our  choice  has  assented  to  and  accepted  over  the  friendly  stran 
gers,  to  whom  the  mild  spirit  of  our  country  and  its  laws  had 
pledged  hospitality  and  protection :  that  the  men  of  our  choice 
have  more  respected  the  bare  suspicions  of  the  President  than  the 
solid  rights  of  innocence,  the  claims  of  justification,  the  sacred 
force  of  truth,  and  the  forms  and  substance  of  law  and  justice. 
In  questions  of  power  then  let  no  more  be  heard  of  confidence  in 


1798]  VIRGINIA   RESOLUTIONS  155 

man,  but  bind  him  down  from  mischief  by  the  claims  of  the  Con 
stitution.  That  this  Commonwealth  does  therefore  call  on  its 
co-States  for  an  expression  of  their  sentiments  on  the  acts  con 
cerning  aliens,  and  for  the  punishment  of  certain  crimes  herein 
before  specified,  plainly  declaring  whether  these  acts  are  or  are 
not  authorized  by  the  Federal  Compact.  And  it  doubts  not  that 
their  sense  will  be  so  announced  as  to  prove  their  attachment 
unaltered  to  limited  government,  whether  general  or  particular, 
and  that  the  rights  and  liberties  of  their  co-States  will  be  exposed 
to  no  dangers  by  remaining  embarked  on  a  common  bottom  with 
their  own  :  That  they  will  concur  with  this  Commonwealth  in 
considering  the  said  acts  so  palpably  against  the  Constitution  as 
to  amount  to  an  undisguised  declaration,  that  the  compact  is  not 
meant  to  be  the  measure  of  the  powers  of  the  general  government, 
but  that  it  will  proceed  in  the  exercise  over  these  States  of  all 
powers  whatsoever :  That  they  will  view  this  as  seizing  the  rights 
of  the  States  and  consolidating  them  in  the  hands  of  the  general 
government  with  a  power  assumed  to  bind  the  States  (not  merely 
in  cases  made  Federal)  but  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  by  laws  made, 
not  with  their  consent,  but  by  others  against  their  consent :  That 
this  would  be  to  surrender  the  form  of  government  we  have  chosen, 
and  to  live  under  one  deriving  its  powers  from  its  own  will,  and 
not  from  our  authority ;  and  that  the  co-States,  recurring  to  their 
natural  right  in  cases  not  made  Federal,  will  concur  in  declaring 
these  acts  void  and  of  no  force,  and  will  each  unite  with  this 
Commonwealth  in  requesting  their  repeal  at  the  next  session  of 
Congress. 

• + 

No.    22.     Virginia  Resolutions 

December  24,  1798 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Madison's  Writings  (ed.  1865),  IV.,  506,  507, 
certified  as  a  true  copy  of  the  original  on  file  in  the  Virginia  archives. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  DELEGATES, 

Friday,  December  21 ,  1798. 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  doth  unequivo 
cally  express  a  firm  resolution  to  maintain  and  defend  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Constitution  of  this  State, 
against  every  aggression  either  foreign  or  domestic ;  and  that 


156  VIRGINIA   RESOLUTIONS  [Dec.  24 

they  will  support  the  Government  of  the  United  States  in  all 
measures  warranted  by  the  former. 

That  this  Assembly  most  solemnly  declares  a  warm  attachment 
to  the  Union  of  the  States,  to  maintain  which  it  pledges  all  its 
powers ;  and  that,  for  this  end,  it  is  their  duty  to  watch  over  and 
oppose  every  infraction  of  those  principles  which  constitute  the 
only  basis  of  that  Union,  because  a  faithful  observance  of  them 
can  alone  secure  its  existence  and  the  public  happiness. 

That  this  Assembly  doth  explicitly  and  peremptorily  declare 
that  it  views  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government  as  resulting 
from  the  compact  to  which  the  States  are  parties,  as  limited  by 
the  plain  sense  and  intention  of  the  instrument  constituting  that 
compact ;  as  no  further  valid  than  they  are  authorized  by  the 
grants  enumerated  in  that  compact ;  and  that,  in  case  of  a  deliber 
ate,  palpable,  and  dangerous  exercise  of  other  powers  not  granted 
by  the  said  compact,  the  States,  who  are  parties  thereto,  have  the 
right  and  are  in  duty  bound  to  interpose  for  arresting  the  progress 
of  the  evil,  and  for  maintaining  within  their  respective  limits  the 
authorities,  rights,  and  liberties  appertaining  to  them. 

That  the  General  Assembly  doth  also  express  its  deep  regret, 
that  a  spirit  has  in  sundry  instances  been  manifested  by  the 
Federal  Government  to  enlarge  its  powers  by  forced  construc 
tions  of  the  constitutional  charter  which  defines  them ;  and  that 
indications  have  appeared  of  a  design  to  expound  certain  gen 
eral  phrases  (which,  having  been  copied  from  the  very  limited 
grant  of  powers  in  the  former  Articles  of  Confederation,  were  the 
less  liable  to  be  misconstrued)  so  as  to  destroy  the  meaning  and 
effect  of  the  particular  enumeration  which  necessarily  explains 
and  limits  the  general  phrases;  and  so  as  to  consolidate  the 
States,  by  degrees,  into  one  sovereignty,  the  obvious  tendency 
and  inevitable  consequence  of  which  would  be  to  transform  the 
present  republican  system  of  the  United  States  into  an  absolute, 
or,  at  best,  a  mixed  monarchy. 

That  the  General  Assembly  doth  particularly  protest  against 
the  palpable  and  alarming  infractions  of  the  Constitution  in  the 
two  late  cases  of  the  "  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts,"  passed  at  the 
last  session  of  Congress ;  the  first  of  which  exercises  a  power 
nowhere  delegated  to  the  Federal  Government,  and  which,  by 
uniting  legislative  and  judicial  powers  to  those  of  [the]  executive, 
subvert  the  general  principles  of  free  government,  as  well  as  the 


1798]  VIRGINIA   RESOLUTIONS  157 

particular  organization  and  positive  provisions  of  the  Federal  Con 
stitution  :  and  the  other  of  which  acts  exercises,  in  like  manner, 
a  power  not  delegated  by  the  Constitution,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
expressly  and  positively  forbidden  by  one  of  the  amendments 
thereto,  —  a  power  which,  more  than  any  other,  ought  to  produce 
universal  alarm,  because  it  is  levelled  against  the  right  of  freely 
examining  public  characters  and  measures,  and  of  free  communi 
cation  among  the  people  thereon,  which  has  ever  been  justly 
deemed  the  only  effectual  guardian  of  every  other  right. 

That  this  State  having  by  its  Convention  which  ratified  the 
Federal  Constitution  expressly  declared  that,  among  other  essen 
tial  rights,  "  the  liberty  of  conscience  and  of  the  press  cannot  be 
cancelled,  abridged,  restrained  or  modified  by  any  authority  of 
the  United  States,"  and  from  its  extreme  anxiety  to  guard  these 
rights  from  every  possible  attack  of  sophistry  or  ambition,  having, 
with  other  States,  recommended  an  amendment  for  that  purpose, 
which  amendment  was  in  due  time  annexed  to  the  Constitution, 
—  it  would  mark  a  reproachful  inconsistency  and  criminal  degen 
eracy,  if  an  indifference  were  now  shown  to  the  palpable  violation 
of  one  of  the  rights  thus  declared  and  secured,  and  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  precedent  which  may  be  fatal  to  the  other. 

That  the  good  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  having  ever  felt 
and  continuing  to  feel  the  most  sincere  affection  for  their  brethren 
of  the  other  States,  the  truest  anxiety  for  establishing  and  per 
petuating  the  union  of  all  and  the  most  scrupulous  fidelity  to  that 
Constitution,  which  is  the  pledge  of  mutual  friendship,  and  the  in 
strument  of  mutual  happiness,  the  General  Assembly  doth  solemnly 
appeal  to  the  like  dispositions  of  the  other  States,  in  confidence 
that  they  will  concur  with  this  Commonwealth  in  declaring,  as  it 
does  hereby  declare,  that  the  acts  aforesaid  are  unconstitutional ; 
and  that  the  necessary  and  proper  measures  will  be  taken  by  each 
for  co-operating  with  this  State,  in  maintaining  unimpaired  the 
authorities,  rights,  and  liberties  reserved  to  the  States  respectively, 
or  to  the  people. 

That  the  Governor  be  desired  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  fore 
going  resolutions  to  the  Executive  authority  of  each  of  the  other 
States,  with  a  request  that  the  same  may  be  communicated  to  the 
Legislature  thereof;  and  that  a  copy  be  furnished  to  each  of  the 
Senators  and  Representatives  representing  this  State  in  the  Con 
gress  of  the  United  States. 


158  KENTUCKY   RESOLUTIONS  [Nov.  22 

No.    23.     Kentucky  Resolutions 

November  22,  1799 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Elliot's  Debates  (eel.  1836),  IV.,  570-572.  Cor 
rections  of  a  number  of  obvious  typographical  errors  are  enclosed  in  square 
brackets.  The  formal  endorsements  at  the  end  are  omitted. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  Thursday,  Nov.  14/7*,  1799. 

The  House,  according  to  the  standing  order  of  the  day,  resolved 
itself  into  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House,  on  the  state  of  the 
Commonwealth,  Mr.  Desha  in  the  Chair ;  and,  after  some  time 
spent  therein,  the  speaker  resumed  the  Chair,  and  Mr.  Desha 
reported,  that  the  Committee  had  taken  under  consideration  sundry 
resolutions  passed  by  several  State  Legislatures,  on  the  subject  of 
the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  and  had  come  to  a  resolution  there 
upon,  which  he  delivered  in  at  the  Clerk's  table,  where  it  was  read 
an  [and]  unanimously  agreed  to  by  the  House,  as  follows  : 

The  representatives  of  the  good  people  of  this  Commonwealth, 
in  General  Assembly  convened,  having  maturely  considered  the 
answers  of  sundry  States  in  the  Union,  to  their  resolutions  passed 
the  last  session,  respecting  certain  unconstitutional  laws  of  Con 
gress,  commonly  called  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  would  be 
faithless,  indeed,  to  themselves  and  to  those  they  represent,  were 
they  silently  to  acquiesce  in  the  principles  and  doctrines  attempted 
to  be  maintained  in  all  those  answers,  that  of  Virginia  only  excepted. 
To  again  enter  the  field  of  argument,  and  attempt  more  fully 
or  forcibly  to  expose  the  unconstitutionality  of  those  obnoxious 
laws,  would,  it  is  apprehended,  be  as  unnecessary  as  unavailing. 
We  cannot,  however,  but  lament,  that,  in  the  discussion  of  those 
interesting  subjects,  by  sundry  of  the  Legislatures  of  our  sister 
States,  unfounded  suggestions,  and  uncandid  insinuations,  deroga 
tory  to  the  true  character  and  principles  of  this  Commonwealth 
has  been  substituted  in  place  of  fair  reasoning  and  sound  argu 
ment.  Our  opinions  of  these  alarming  measures  of  the  General 
Government,  together  with  our  reasons  for  those  opinions,  were 
detailed  with  decency,  and  with  temper,  and  submitted  to  the  dis 
cussion  and  judgment  of  our  fellow-citizens  throughout  the  Union. 
Whether  the  like  decency  and  temper  have  been  observed  in  the 
answers  of  most  of  those  States,  who  have  denied  or  attempted 
to  obviate  the  great  truths  contained  in  those  resolutions,  we  have 


I799]  KENTUCKY   RESOLUTIONS  1 59 

now  only  to  submit  to  a  candid  world.  Faithful  to  the  true  prin 
ciples  of  the  federal  Union,  unconscious  of  any  designs  to  disturb 
the  harmony  of  that  Union,  and  anxious  only  to  escape  the  fangs 
of  despotism,  the  good  people  of  this  Commonwealth  are  regard 
less  of  censure  or  calumniation.  Least  [Lest],  however,  the  silence 
of  this  Commonwealth  should  be  construed  into  an  acquiescence 
in  the  doctrines  and  principles  advanced  and  attempted  to  be 
maintained  by  the  said  answers,  or  at  least  those  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  throughout  the  Union  who  so  widely  differ  from  us  on 
those  important  subjects,  should  be  deluded  by  the  expectation, 
that  we  shall  be  deterred  from  what  we  conceive  our  duty,  or  shrink 
from  the  principles  contained  in  those  resolutions  —  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  this  Commonwealth  considers  the  Federal  Union, 
upon  the  terms  and  for  the  purposes  specified  in  the  late  compact, 
conducive  to  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  the  several  States  :  That 
it  does  now  unequivocally  declare  its  attachment  to  the  Union, 
and  to  that  compact,  agreeably  to  its  obvious  and  real  intention, 
and  will  be  among  the  last  to  seek  its  dissolution  :  That  if  those 
who  administer  the  General  Government  be  permitted  to  trans 
gress  the  limits  fixed  by  that  compact,  by  a  total  disregard  to  the 
special  delegations  of  power  therein  contained,  an  annihilation  of 
the  State  Governments,  and  the  creation  upon  their  ruins  of  a 
General  Consolidated  Government,  will  be  the  inevitable  conse 
quence  :  That  the  principle  and  construction  contended  for  by 
sundry  of  the  state  legislatures,  that  the  General  Government  is 
the  exclusive  judge  of  the  extent  of  the  powers  delegated  to  it, 
stop  nothing  [short]  of  despotism  —  since  the  discretion  of  those 
who  administer  the  government,  and  not  the  Constitution,  would 
be  the  measure  of  their  powers  :  That  the  several  states  who 
formed  that  instrument  being  sovereign  and  independent,  have 
the  unquestionable  right  to  judge  of  the  infraction ;  and,  That  a 
Nullification  by  those  sovereignties,  of  all  unauthorized  acts  done 
under  color  of  that  instrument  is  the  rightful  remedy :  That  this 
Commonwealth  does,  under  the  most  deliberate  reconsideration, 
declare,  that  the  said  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  are,  in  their  opinion, 
palpable  violations  of  the  said  Constitution ;  and,  however  cheer 
fully  it  may  be  disposed  to  surrender  its  opinion  to  a  majority 
of  its  sister  states,  in  matters  of  ordinary  or  doubtful  policy,  yet, 
in  no  \_omi f\  momentous  regulations  like  the  present,  which  so 
vitally  wound  the  best  rights  of  the  citizen,  it  would  consider  a 


I6O  LOUISIANA   PURCHASE  [April  30 

silent  acquiescence  as  highly  criminal :  That  although  this  com 
monwealth,  as  a  party  to  the  federal  compact,  will  bow  to  the 
laws  of  the  Union,  yet,  it  does,  at  the  same  [time]  declare,  that  it 
will  not  now,  or  ever  hereafter,  cease  to  oppose  in  a  constitutional 
manner,  every  attempt  at  what  quarter  soever  offered,  to  violate 
that  compact.  And,  finally,  in  order  that  no  pretext  or  arguments 
may  be  drawn  from  a  supposed  acquiescence,  on  the  part  of  this 
Commonwealth  in  the  constitutionality  of  those  laws,  and  be 
thereby  used  as  precedents  for  similar  future  violations  of  the 
Federal  compact  —  this  Commonwealth  does  now  enter  against 
them  its  solemn  PROTEST. 


No.   24.     Treaty  with    France    for   the  Cession 
of  Louisiana 

April  30,   1803 

THE  region  known  as  Louisiana  belonged  to  France  until  1762,  when  it  was 
ceded  to  Spain.  By  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1763,  a  portion  of  Louisiana  east  of 
the  Mississippi  was  ceded  to  Great  Britain,  and  in  1783  the  eastern  bank  of 
the  Mississippi  as  far  south  as  the  3ist  parallel  passed  into  the  control  of  the 
United  States.  By  the  third  article  of  the  secret  treaty  of  San  Ildefonso,  Oct. 
I,  1800,  Spain  agreed  to  cede  Louisiana  to  France.  October  1 6,  1802,  the 
Spanish  intendant  of  Louisiana  by  proclamation  forbade  citizens  of  the  United 
States  the  further  use  of  New  Orleans  "  as  a  place  of  deposit  for  merchandise, 
and  free  transit  for  our  ships  down  the  river  to  the  sea."  An  appropriation  of 
$  2,000,000  was  made  by  Congress  for  the  purchase  of  New  Orleans.  January 
n,  1803,  Jefferson  nominated  Monroe  as  minister  extraordinary  to  co-operate 
with  Livingston,  the  minister  to  France,  in  negotiations  for  "  a  treaty  or  con 
vention  with  the  First  Consul  of  France,  for  the  purpose  of  enlarging,  and 
more  effectually  securing,  our  rights  and  interests  in  the  river  Mississippi,  and 
in  the  territories  eastward  thereof."  The  outcome  of  the  negotiations  was  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana  by  the  United  States.  A  treaty  and  two  conventions, 
dated  April  30,  1803,  were  signed  early  in  May.  A  special  session  of  Congress 
was  called  for  Oct.  17;  on  the  2Oth  the  Senate,  by  a  vote  of  24  to  7,  ratified 
the  treaty.  The  House  declared  in  favor  of  the  treaty  on  the  25th,  by  a  vote 
of  90  to  25. 

REFERENCES.  —  English  text,  followed  here,  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to 
District  of  Columbia,  etc.  (ed.  1875),  232~235;  English  and  French  text  in 
U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  VIII.,  200-206.  The  message  of  Jan.  II,  1803,  is  in 
Amer.  State  Papers,  Foreign  Relations,  II.,  475 ;  for  the  two  conventions  and 
diplomatic  correspondence,  ib.,  II.,  508-583,  or  Annals,  7th  Cong.,  2d  Sess., 
1007-1210.  The  discussions  in  the  House  may  be  followed  in  the  Annals, 
or  in  Benton's  Abridgment,  II.  The  best  account  of  events  is  in  Henry 


1803]  LOUISIANA   PURCHASE  l6l 

Adams's  United  States,  I.,  chaps.  13-17,  II.,  chaps.  1-6.  See  also  Johnston, 
in  Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  I.,  93-96;  Barbe-Marbois's  Hist,  of  Louisiana  (ed. 
1830),  parts  II.,  III.;  Jefferson's  Works  (ed.  1854),  IV.,  431-434,  456-459, 
498-501,  and  further  correspondence  in  V.,  VII.,  and  VIII. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  the  First 
Consul  of  the  French  Republic,  in  the  name  of  the  French 
people,  desiring  to  remove  all  source  of  misunderstanding  rela 
tive  to  objects  of  discussion  mentioned  in  the  second  and  fifth 
articles  of  the  convention  of  the  8th  Vendemiaire,  an  9  (3oth 
September,  1800)  relative  to  the  rights  claimed  by  the  United 
States,  in  virtue  of  the  treaty  concluded  at  Madrid,  the  2yth  of 
October,  1795,  between  his  Catholic  Majesty  and  the  said  United 
States,  and  willing  to  strengthen  the  union  and  friendship  which 
at  the  time  of  the  said  convention  was  happily  re-established 
between  the  two  nations,  have  respectively  named  their  Plenipo 
tentiaries,  to  wit:  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  of  the  said  States, 
Robert  R.  Livingston,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States,  and  James  Monroe,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  and  Envoy 
Extraordinary  of  the  said  States,  near  the  Government  of  the 
French  Republic;  and  the  First  Consul,  in  the  name  of  the 
French  people,  Citizen  Francis  Barbe"  Marbois,  Minister  of 
the  Public  Treasury;  who,  after  having  respectively  exchanged 
their  full  powers,  have  agreed  to  the  following  articles : 

ARTICLE  I. 

Whereas  by  the  article  the  third  of  the  treaty  concluded  at 
St.  Idelfonso,  the  gth  Vendemiaire,  an  9  (ist  October,  1800,) 
between  the  First  Consul  of  the  French  Republic  and  His  Catho 
lic  Majesty,  it  was  agreed  as  follows:  "His  Catholic  Majesty 
promises  and  engages  on  his  part,  to  cede  to  the  French  Repub 
lic,  six  months  after  the  full  and  entire  execution  of  the  condi 
tions  and  stipulations  herein  relative  to  His  Royal  Highness  the 
Duke  of  Parma,  the  colony  or  province  of  Louisiana,  with  the 
same  extent  that  it  now  has  in  the  hands  of  Spain,  and  that  it 
had  when  France  possessed  it,  and  such  as  it  should  be  after 
the  treaties  subsequently  entered  into  between  Spain  and  other 
States."  And  whereas,  in  pursuance  of  the  treaty,  and  particu 
larly  of  the  third  article,  the  French  Republic  has  an  incon- 
testible  title  to  the  domain  and  to  the  possession  of  the  said 


1 62  LOUISIANA   PURCHASE  [April  30 

territory :  The  First  Consul  of  the  French  Republic  desiring  to 
give  to  the  United  States  a  strong  proof  of  his  friendship,  doth 
hereby  cede  to  the  said  United  States,  in  the  name  of  the  French 
Republic,  forever  and  in  full  sovereignty,  the  said  territory,  with 
all  its  rights  and  appurtenances,  as  fully  and  in  the  same  manner 
as  they  have  been  acquired  by  the  French  Republic,  in  virtue  of 
the  above-mentioned  treaty,  concluded  with  His  Catholic  Majesty. 

ARTICLE  II. 

In  the  cession  made  by  the  preceding  article  are  included  the 
adjacent  islands  belonging  to  Louisiana,  all  public  lots  and 
squares,  vacant  lands,  and  all  public  buildings,  fortifications, 
barracks,  and  other  edifices  which  are  not  private  property.  The 
archives,  papers,  and  documents,  relative  to  the  domain  and 
sovereignty  of  Louisiana  and  its  dependences,  will  be  left  in 
the  possession  of  the  commissaries  of  the  United  States,  and 
copies  will  be  afterwards  given  in  due  form  to  the  magistrates 
and  municipal  officers  of  such  of  the  said  papers  and  documents 
as  may  be  necessary  to  them. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  ceded  territory  shall  be  incorporated  in 
the  Union  of  the  United  States,  and  admitted  as  soon  as  possible, 
according  to  the  principles  of  the  Federal  constitution,  to  the 
enjoyment  of  all  the  rights,  advantages,  and  immunities  of  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States;  and  in  the  mean  time  they  shall  be 
maintained  and  protected  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  liberty, 
property,  and  the  religion  which  they  profess. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

There  shall  be  sent  by  the  Government  of  France  a  commissary 
to  Louisiana,  to  the  end  that  he  do  every  act  necessary,  as  well 
to  receive  from  the  officers  of  His  Catholic  Majesty  the  said 
country  and  its  dependences,  in  the  name  of  the  French  Repub 
lic,  if  it  has  not  been  alrea'dy  done,  as  to  transmit  it  in  the  name 
of  the  French  Republic  to  the  commissary  or  agent  of  the  United 
States. 

ARTICLE  V. 

Immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  in  case  that  of  the  First 


1803]  LOUISIANA   PURCHASE  163 

Consul  shall  have  been  previously  obtained,  the  commissary  of 
the  French  Republic  shall  remit  all  military  posts  of  New  Orleans, 
and  other  parts  of  the  ceded  territory,  to  the  commissary  or  com 
missaries  named  by  the  President  to  take  possession;  the  troops, 
whether  of  France  or  Spain,  who  may  be  there,  shall  cease  to 
occupy  any  military  post  from  the  time  of  taking  possession,  and 
shall  be  embarked  as  soon  as  possible,  in  the  course  of  three 
months  after  the  ratification  of  this  treaty. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

The  United  States  promise  to  execute  such  treaties  and  articles 
as  may  have  been  agreed  between  Spain  and  the  tribes  and  nations 
of  Indians,  until,  by  mutual  consent  of  the  United  States  and  the 
said  tribes  or  nations,  other  suitable  articles  shall  have  been 
agreed  upon. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

As  it  is  reciprocally  advantageous  to  the  commerce  of  France 
and  the  United  States  to  encourage  the  communication  of  both 
nations  for  a  limited  time  in  the  country  ceded  by  the  present 
treaty,  until  general  arrangements  relative  to  the  commerce  of 
both  nations  may  be  agreed  on;  it  has  been  agreed  between  the 
contracting  parties,  that  the  French  ships  coming  directly  from 
France  or  any  of  her  colonies,  loaded  only  with  the  produce  and 
manufactures  of  France  or  her  said  colonies;  and  the  ships  of 
Spain  coming  directly  from  Spain  or  any  of  her  colonies,  loaded 
only  with  the  produce  or  manufactures  of  Spain  or  her  colonies, 
shall  be  admitted  during  the  space  of  twelve  years  in  the  port  of 
New  Orleans,  and  in  all  other  legal  ports  of  entry  within  the 
ceded  territory,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  ships  of  the  United 
States  coming  directly  from  France  or  Spain,  or  any  of  their 
colonies,  without  being  subject  to  any  other  or  greater  duty  on 
merchandize,  or  other  or  greater  tonnage  than  that  paid  by  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States. 

During  the  space  of  time  above  mentioned,  no  other  nation 
shall  have  a  right  to  the  same  privileges  in  the  ports  of  the  ceded 
territory;  the  twelve  years  shall  commence  three  months  after 
the  exchange  of  ratifications,  if  it  shall  take  place  in  France,  or 
three  months  after  it  shall  have  been  notified  at  Paris  to  the 
French  Government,  if  it  shall  take  place  in  the  United  States; 
it  is  however  well  understood  that  the  object  of  the  above  article 


1 64  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE  [April  30 

is  to  favor  the  manufactures,  commerce,  freight,  and  navigation 
of  France  and  of  Spain,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  importations  that 
the  French  and  Spanish  shall  make  into  the  said  ports  of  the 
United  States,  without  in  any  sort  affecting  the  regulations  that 
the  United  States  may  make  concerning  the  exportation  of  the 
produce  and  merchandize  of  the  United  States,  or  any  right  they 
may  have  to  make  such  regulations. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

In  future  and  forever  after  the  expiration  of  the  twelve  years, 
the  ships  of  France  shall  be  treated  upon  the  footing  of  the  most 
favoured  nations  in  the  ports  above  mentioned. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

The  particular  convention  signed  this  day  by  the  respective 
ministers,*  having  for  its  object  to  provide  for  the  payment  of 
debts  due  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  by  the  French 
Republic  prior  to  the  3oth  Septr.,  1800,  (8th  Vendemiaire,  an 
9,)  is  approved,  and  to  have  its  execution  in  the  same  manner 
as  if  it  had  been  inserted  in  this  present  treaty;  and  it  shall  be 
ratified  in  the  same  form  and  in  the  same  time,  so  that  the  one 
shall  not  be  ratified  distinct  from  the  other. 

Another  particular  convention  f  signed  at  the  same  date  as  the 
present  treaty  relative  to  a  definitive  rule  between  the  contracting 
parties  is  in  the  like  manner  approved,  and  will  be  ratified  in  the 
same  form,  and  in  the  same  time,  and  jointly. 

ARTICLE  X. 

The  present  treaty  shall  be  ratified  in  good  and  due  form,  and 
the  ratifications  shall  be  exchanged  in  the  space  of  six  months 
after  the  date  of  the  signature  by  the  Ministers  Plenipotentiary, 
or  sooner  if  possible. 

In  faith  whereof,  the  respective  Plenipotentiaries  have  signed 
these  articles  in  the  French  and  English  languages;  declaring 
nevertheless  that  the  present  treaty  was  originally  agreed  to  in  the 
French  language;  and  have  thereunto  affixed  their  seals. 

*  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia  (ed.  1875),  236-238  ; 
Treaties  and  Conventions  (ed.  1889),  335-338.  —  ED. 

f  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia  (ed.  1875),  235,  236; 
Treaties  and  Conventions  (ed.  1889),  334,  335.  —  ED. 


1803]  BURR'S  CONSPIRACY  165 

Done  at  Paris  the  tenth  day  of  Flore"al,  in  the  eleventh  year  of 
the  French  Republic,  and  the  30th  of  April,  1803. 

ROBT.  R.  LIVINGSTON.  [L.S.] 
JAS.  MONROE.  [L.S.] 

F.  BARBE  MARBOIS.       [L.S.] 


No.    25,     Jefferson's  Message  regarding  the 
Burr   Conspiracy 

January  22,  1807 

ALTHOUGH  Jefferson  was  not  ignorant  of  the  grave  danger  attending  Burr's 
movements,  he  delayed  taking  any  decisive  steps.  In  a  proclamation  of  Nov. 
27,  1806,  and  in  his  annual  message  of  Dec.  2,  he  spoke  of  the  conspiracy  as 
directed  chiefly  against  Spanish  territory.  January  16,  1807,  John  Randolph 
of  Virginia  offered  in  the  House  a  resolution  requesting  the  President  "  to  lay 
before  this  House  any  information,  in  possession  of  the  Executive,  except  such 
as  he  may  deem  the  public  welfare  to  require  not  to  be  disclosed,  touching 
any  illegal  combination  of  private  individuals  against  the  peace  and  safety  of 
the  Union,  or  any  military  expedition  planned  by  such  individuals  against  the 
Territories  of  any  Power  in  amity  with  the  United  States;  together  with  the 
measures  which  the  Executive  has  pursued,  and  proposes  to  take  for  sup 
pressing  or  defeating  the  same."  The  first  part  of  the  resolution  was  agreed 
to  by  a  vote  of  109  to  14;  the  second  part,  with  the  words  "  and  proposes  to 
take"  stricken  out,  by  a  vote  of  67  to  52.  The  message  was  sent  in  on  the 
22d.  The  Senate  immediately  passed,  by  unanimous  consent,  a  bill  to  sus 
pend  for  three  months  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  ;  but  the  bill 
was  rejected  by  the  House  Jan.  26,  by  a  vote  of  113  to  19.  February  19, 
Jefferson  informed  Congress  that  Burr  had  surrendered  to  the  authorities  of 
Mississippi  Territory. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Senate  and  House  Journals,  9th  Cong.,  2dSess.; 
with  accompanying  papers,  Amer.  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  L,  468-471. 
For  the  discussions  in  the  House  over  Randolph's  resolution  and  the  suspen 
sion  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  see  the  Annals,  or  Benton's  Abridgment, 
III.  The  proceedings  and  papers  connected  with  the  trial  of  Burr  are  in 
Amer.  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  I.,  486-645;  see  further,  on  Wilkinson's 
connection  with  the  conspiracy,  ib.,  II.,  79-127;  on  the  attempt  to  remove 
Senator  John  Smith  of  Ohio,  ib.,  I.,  701-703,  and  discussions  in  Annals,  or 
Benton,  III.  The  best  general  account  is  in  Adams's  United  States,  III.; 
see  also  Parton's  Life  and  Times  of  Burr,  II.,  chaps.  21—26;  Davis's  Memoirs 
of  Burr,  II.,  chaps.  18,  19;  Randall's  Jefferson,  III.,  chap.  5;  Jefferson's 
Works  (ed.  1853),  V.,  65-69,  81-88,  94-100,  174,  175. 


1 66  BURR'S  CONSPIRACY  [Jan.  22 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  : 
AGREEABLY  to  the  request  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
communicated  in  their  resolution  of  the  sixteenth  instant,  I  pro 
ceed  to  state,  under  the  reserve  therein  expressed,  information 
received  touching  an  illegal  combination  of  private  individuals 
against  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  Union,  and  a  military  expedi 
tion  planned  by  them  against  the  Territories  of  a  Power  in  amity 
with  the  United  States,  with  the  measures  I  have  pursued  for  sup 
pressing  the  same. 

I  had,  for  some  time,  been  in  the  constant  expectation  of  receiv 
ing  such  further  information  as  would  have  enabled  me  to  lay 
before  the  Legislature  the  termination,  as  well  as  the  beginning 
and  progress  of  this  scene  of  depravity,  so  far  as  it  has  been 
acted  on  the  Ohio  and  its  waters.  From  this  the  state  and  safety 
of  the  lower  country  might  have  been  estimated  on  probable 
grounds ;  and  the  delay  was  indulged  the  rather,  because  no  cir 
cumstance  had  yet  made  it  necessary  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the 
Legislative  functions.  Information,  now  recently  communicated, 
has  brought  us  nearly  to  the  period  contemplated.  The  mass  of 
what  I  have  received,  in  the  course  of  these  transactions,  is  volu 
minous  :  but  little  has  been  given  under  the  sanction  of  an  oath, 
so  as  to  constitute  formal  and  legal  evidence.  It  is  chiefly  in  the 
form  of  letters,  often  containing  such  a  mixture  of  rumors,  con 
jectures,  and  suspicions,  as  renders  it  difficult  to  sift  out  the 
real  facts,  and  unadvisable  to  hazard  more  than  general  outlines, 
strengthened  by  concurrent  information,  or  the  particular  credi 
bility  of  the  relator.  In  this  state  of  the  evidence,  delivered 
sometimes,  too,  under  the  restriction  of  private  confidence,  neither 
safety  nor  justice  will  permit  the  exposing  names,  except  that  of 
the  principal  actor,  whose  guilt  is  placed  beyond  question. 

Some  time  in  the  latter  part  of  September,  I  received  intima 
tions  that  designs  were  in  agitation  in  the  Western  country,  unlaw 
ful  and  unfriendly  to  the  peace  of  the  Union  \  and  that  the  prime 
mover  in  these  was  Aaron  Burr,  heretofore  distinguished  by  the 
favor  of  his  country.  The  grounds  of  these  intimations  being  in 
conclusive,  the  objects  uncertain,  and  the  fidelity  of  that  country 
known  to  be  firm,  the  only  measure  taken  was  to  urge  the  inform 
ants  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to  get  further  insight  into  the 
designs  and  proceedings  of  the  suspected  persons,  and  to  com 
municate  them  to  me. 


1807]  BURR'S   CONSPIRACY  1 67 

It  was  not  until  the  latter  part  of  October,  that  the  objects  of 
the  conspiracy  began  to  be  perceived ;  but  still  so  blended,  and 
involved  in  mystery,  that  nothing  distinct  could  be  singled  out  for 
pursuit.  In  this  state  of  uncertainty,  as  to  the  crime  contem 
plated,  the  acts  done,  and  the  legal  course  to  be  pursued,  I 
thought  it  best  to  send  to  the  scene,  where  these  things  were  prin 
cipally  in  transaction,  a  person  *  in  whose  integrity,  understanding, 
and  discretion,  entire  confidence  could  be  reposed,  with  instruc 
tions  to  investigate  the  plots  going  on,  to  enter  into  conference 
(for  which  he  had  sufficient  credentials)  with  the  Governors,  and 
all  other  officers,  civil  and  military,  and,  with  their  aid,  to  do  on  the 
spot  whatever  should  be  necessary  to  discover  the  designs  of  the 
conspirators,  arrest  their  means,  bring  their  persons  to  punishment, 
and  to  call  out  the  force  of  the  country  to  suppress  any  unlawful 
enterprise  in  which  it  should  be  found  they  were  engaged.  By 
this  time  it  was  known  -ffia;t  many  boats  were  under  preparation, 
stores  of  provisions  collecting,  and  an  unusual  number  of  suspi 
cious  characters  in  motion  on  the  Ohio  and  its  waters.  Besides 
despatching  the  confidential  agent  to  that  quarter,  orders  were  at 
the  same  time  sent  to  the  Governors  of  the  Orleans  and  Mississippi 
Territories,  and  to  the  commanders  of  the  land  and  naval  forces 
there,  to  be  on  their  guard  against  surprise,  and  in  constant  readi 
ness  to  resist  any  enterprise  which  might  be  attempted  on  the 
vessels,  posts,  or  other  objects  under  their  care  :  and,  on  the 
eighth  of  November,  instructions  were  forwarded  to  General 
Wilkinson,  to  hasten  an  accommodation  with  the  Spanish  com 
mandant  on  the  Sabine,  and  as  soon  as  that  was  effected,  to  fall 
back  with  his  principal  force  to  the  hither  bank  of  the  Mississippi, 
for  the  defence  of  the  interesting  points  on  that  river.  By  a  letter 
received  from  that  officer,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  November,  but 
dated  October  twenty-first,  we  learnt  that  a  confidential  agent  of 
Aaron  Burr,  had  been  deputed  to  him,  with  communications, 
partly  written  in  cypher,  and  partly  oral,  explaining  his  designs, 
exaggerating  his  resources,  and  making  such  offers  of  emolument 
and  command,  to  engage  him  and  the  army  in  his  unlawful  enter 
prises,  as  he  had  flattered  himself  would  be  successful.  The  Gen 
eral,  with  the  honor  of  a  soldier,  and  fidelity  of  a  good  citizen, 
immediately  despatched  a  trusty  officer  to  me,  with  information 
of  what  had  passed,  proceeded  to  establish  such  an  understand- 

*  John  Graham,  secretary  of  Orleans  Territory.  —  ED. 


1 68  BURR'S  CONSPIRACY  [Jan.  22 

ing  with  the  Spanish  commandant  on  the  Sabine,  as  permitted  him 
to  withdraw  his  force  across  the  Mississippi,  and  to  enter  on  meas 
ures  for  opposing  the  projected  enterprise. 

The  General's  letter,  which  came  to  hand  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
November,  as  has  been  mentioned,  and  some  other  information 
received  a  few  days  earlier,  when  brought  together,  developed 
Burr's  general  designs,  different  parts  of  which  only  had  been  re 
vealed  to  different  informants.  It  appeared  that  he  contemplated 
two  distinct  objects,  which  might  be  carried  on  either  jointly  or 
separately,  and  either  the  one  or  the  other  first,  as  circumstances 
should  direct.  One  of  these  was  the  severance  of  the  Union  of 
these  States  by  the  Alleghany  mountains  j  the  other  an  attack  on 
Mexico.  A  third  object  was  provided,  merely  ostensible,  to  wit : 
the  settlement  of  a  pretended  purchase  of  a  tract  of  country  on 
the  Washita,  claimed  by  a  Baron  Bastrop.  This  was  to  serve 
as  the  pretext  for  all  his  preparations,  an  allurement  for  such  fol 
lowers  as  really  wished  to  acquire  settlements  in  that  country,  and 
a  cover  under  which  to  retreat  in  the  event  of  a  final  discomfiture 
of  both  branches  of  his  real  design. 

He  found,  at  once,  that  the  attachment  of  the  Western  country 
to  the  present  Union  was  not  to  be  shaken  ;  that  its  dissolution 
could  not  be  effected  with  the  consent  of  its  inhabitants,  and  that 
his  resources  were  inadequate,  as  yet,  to  effect  it  by  force.  He 
took  his  course,  then,  at  once,  determined  to  seize  on  New  Orleans, 
plunder  the  Bank  there,  possess  himself  of  the  military  and  naval 
stores,  and  proceed  on  his  expedition  to  Mexico ;  and  to  this 
object  all  his  means  and  preparations  were  now  directed.  He 
collected  from  all  the  quarters,  where  himself  or  his  agents  pos 
sessed  influence,  all  the  ardent,  restless,  desperate,  and  disaffected 
persons,  who  were  ready  for  any  enterprise  analogous  to  their  char 
acters.  He  seduced  good  and  well  meaning  citizens,  some  by 
assurances  that  he  possessed  the  confidence  of  the  Government, 
and  was  acting  under  its  secret  patronage  ;  a  pretence  which  pro 
cured  some  credit  from  the  state  of  our  differences  with  Spain ; 
and  others  by  offers  of  land  in  Bastrop's  claim  on  the  Washita. 

This  was  the  state  of  my  information  of  his  proceedings  about 
the  last  of  November,  at  which  time,  therefore,  it  was  fir^t  possi 
ble  to  take  specific  measures  to  meet  them.  The  proclamation  of 
November  twenty-seventh,  two  days  after  the  receipt  of  General 
Wilkinson's  information,  was  now  issued.  Orders  were  despatched 


1807]  BURR'S  CONSPIRACY  169 

to  every  interesting  point  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  from  Pitts- 
burg  to  New  Orleans,  for  the  employment  of  such  force,  either  of 
the  regulars  or  of  the  militia,  and  of  such  proceedings  also,  of 
the  civil  authorities,  as  might  enable  them  to  seize  on  all  boats 
and  stores  provided  for  the  enterprise,  to  arrest  the  persons  con 
cerned,  and  to  suppress  effectually  the  further  progress  of  the  en 
terprise.  A  little  before  the  receipt  of  these  orders,  in  the  State 
of  Ohio,  our  confidential  agent,  who  had  been  diligently  employed 
in  investigating  the  conspiracy,  had  acquired  sufficient  information 
to  open  himself  to  the  Governor  of  that  State,  and  to  apply  for  the 
immediate  exertion  of  the  authority  and  power  of  the  State,  to 
crush  the  combination.  Governor  Tiffin,  and  the  Legislature, 
with  a  promptitude,  an  energy,  and  patriotic  zeal,  which  entitle 
them  to  a  distinguished  place  in  the  affection  of  their  sister  States, 
effected  the  seizure  of  all  the  boats,  provisions,  and  other  prepara 
tions  within  their  reach,  and  thus  gave  a  first  blow,  materially  dis 
abling  the  enterprise  in  its  outset. 

In  Kentucky,  a  premature  attempt  to  bring  Burr  to  justice,  with 
out  sufficient  evidence  for  his  conviction,  had  produced  a  popular 
impression  in  his  favor,  and  a  general  disbelief  of  his  guilt.  This 
gave  him  an  unfortunate  opportunity  of  hastening  his  equipments. 
The  arrival  of  the  proclamation  and  orders,  and  the  application 
and  information  of  our  confidential  agent,  at  length  awakened  the 
authorities  of  that  State  to  the  truth,  and  then  produced  the  same 
promptitude  and  energy  of  which  the  neighboring  State  had  set 
the  example.  Under  an  act  of  their  Legislature,  of  December 
twenty-third,  militia  was  instantly  ordered  to  different  important 
points,  and  measures  taken  for  doing  whatever  could  yet  be  done. 
Some  boats  (accounts  vary  from  five  to  double  or  treble  that  num 
ber)  and  persons  (differently  estimated  from  one  to  three  hun 
dred)  had,  in  the  mean  time,  passed  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  to 
rendezvous  at  the  mouth  of  Cumberland,  with  others  expected 
down  that  river. 

Not  apprized,  till  very  late,  that  any  boats  were  building  on 
Cumberland,  the  effect  of  the  proclamation  had  been  trusted  to 
for  some  time  in  the  State  of  Tennessee ;  but,  on  the  nineteenth 
of  December,  similar  communications  and  instructions,  with  those 
to  the  neighboring  States,  were  despatched,  by  express,  to  the 
Governor,  and  a  general  officer  of  the  Western  division  of  the 
State  j  and,  on  the  twenty-third  of  December,  our  confidential 


1 70  BURR'S  CONSPIRACY  [Jan.  22 

agent  left  Frankfort  for  Nashville,  to  put  into  activity  the  means 
of  that  State  also.  But,  by  information  received  yesterday,  I  learn 
that,  on  the  twenty-second  of  December,  Mr.  Burr  descended 
the  Cumberland,  with  two  boats  merely  of  accommodation, 
carrying  from  that  State  no  quota  toward  his  unlawful  enterprise. 
Whether,  after  the  arrival  of  the  proclamation,  of  the  orders,  or 
of  our  agent,  any  exertion  which  could  be  made  by  that  State,  or 
the  orders  of  the  Governor  of  Kentucky  for  calling  out  the 
militia  at  the  mouth  of  Cumberland,  would  be  in  time  to  arrest 
these  boats,  and  those  from  the  Falls  of  Ohio,  is  still  doubt 
ful. 

On  the  whole,  the  fugitives  from  the  Ohio,  with  their  associates 
from  Cumberland,  or  any  other  place  in  that  quarter,  cannot 
threaten  serious  danger  to  the  City  of  New  Orleans. 

By  the  same  express  of  December  nineteenth,  orders  were  sent 
to  the  Governors  of  Orleans  and  Mississippi,  supplementary  to 
those  which  had  been  given  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  November,  to 
hold  the  militia  of  their  Territories  in  readiness  to  co-operate  for 
their  defence  with  the  regular  troops  and  armed  vessels  then  under 
command  of  General  Wilkinson.  Great  alarm  indeed  was  excited 
at  New  Orleans,  by  the  exaggerated  accounts  of  Mr.  Burr,  dis 
seminated  through  his  emissaries,  of  the  armies  and  navies  he 
was  to  assemble  there.  General  Wilkinson  had  arrived  there  him 
self,  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  November,  and  had  immediately  put 
into  activity  the  resources  of  the  place,  for  the  purpose  of  its 
defence ;  and,  on  the  tenth  of  December,  he  was  joined  by  his 
troops  from  the  Sabine.  Great  zeal  was  shewn  by  the  inhabitants 
generally  ;  the  merchants  of  the  place  readily  agreeing  to  the  most 
laudable  exertions  and  sacrifices  for  manning  the  armed  vessels 
with  their  seamen ;  and  the  other  citizens  manifesting  unequivocal 
fidelity  to  the  Union,  and  a  spirit  of  determined  resistance  to 
their  expected  assailants. 

Surmises  have  been  hazarded  that  this  enterprise  is  to  receive 
aid  from  certain  foreign  Powers.  But  these  surmises  are  without 
proof  or  probability.  The  wisdom  of  the  measures  sanctioned 
by  Congress  at  its  last  session,  has  placed  us  in  the  paths  of  peace 
and  justice  with  the  only  Powers  with  whom  we  had  any  differ 
ences  ;  and  nothing  has  happened  since  which  makes  it  either 
their  interest  or  ours  to  pursue  another  course  .  .  .  These  surmises 
are,  therefore,  to  be  imputed  to  the  vauntings  of  the  author  of 


1807]  PROHIBITION  OF  SLAVE  TRADE  I/I 

this  enterprise  to  multiply  his  partisans  by  magnifying  the  belief 
of  his  prospects  and  support. 

By  letters  from  General  Wilkinson,  of  the  fourteenth  and  eigh 
teenth  of  December,  which  came  to  hand  two  days  after  the  date 
of  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  that  is  to  say, 
on  the  morning  of  the  eighteenth  instant,  I  received  the  impor 
tant  affidavit,  a  copy  of  which  I  now  communicate,  with  extracts 
of  so  much  of  the  letters  as  comes  within  the  scope  of  the  reso 
lution.  By  these  it  will  be  seen  that  of  three  of  the  principal 
emissaries  of  Mr.  Burr,  whom  the  General  had  caused  to  be 
apprehended,  one  had  been  liberated  by  habeas  corpus,  and  two 
others,  being  those  particularly  employed  in  the  endeavor  to  cor 
rupt  the  General  and  army  of  the  United  States,  have  been  em 
barked  by  him  for  ports  in  the  Atlantic  States,  probably  on  the 
consideration  that  an  impartial  trial  could  not  be  expected,  dur 
ing  the  present  agitations  of  New  Orleans,  and  that  that  City  was 
not,  as  yet,  a  safe  place  of  confinement.  As  soon  as  these  per 
sons  shall  arrive,  they  will  be  delivered  to  the  custody  of  the  law, 
and  left  to  such  course  of  trial,  both  as  to  place  and  process,  as 
its  functionaries  may  direct.  The  presence  of  the  highest  judicial 
authorities,  to  be  assembled  at  this  place  within  a  few  days,  the 
means  of  pursuing  a  sounder  course  of  proceedings  here  than 
elsewhere,  and  the  aid  of  the  Executive  means,  should  the  Judges 
have  occasion  to  use  them,  render  it  equally  desirable,  for  the 
criminal  as  for  the  public,  that,  being  already  removed  from  the 
place  where  they  were  apprehended,  the  first  regular  arrest  should 
take  place  here,  and  the  course  of  proceedings  receive  here  its 
proper  direction. 

TH.  JEFFERSON. 


No.    26.     Act   to   prohibit   the    Importation  of 

Slaves 

March  2,   1807 

IN  his  annual  message  of  Dec.  2,  1806,  Jefferson  urged  the  desirability  of 
prohibiting  the  importation  of  slaves  after  Dec.  31,  1807,  in  accordance  with 
art.  I.,  sec.  9  of  the  Constitution.  A  bill  for  this  purpose  was  reported  in  the 
House  Dec.  15,  and  on  the  i8th  recommitted.  An  amended  bill  with  the 
same  title  was  reported  on  the  igth,  and  debated  at  intervals  until  Jan.  8, 


1/2  PROHIBITION   OF   SLAVE  TRADE  [March  2 

when,  after  having  the  previous  day  been  ordered  to  the  third  reading,  it  was 
recommitted.  A  new  bill  was  reported  Jan.  20,  but  consideration  was  post 
poned  on  account  of  the  discussion  over  the  Burr  conspiracy  and  the  attempted 
suspension  of  habeas  corpus.  In  the  meantime  a  bill  introduced  in  the  Senate 
Dec.  8  passed  that  body  Jan.  27.  February  9  the  House  took  up  the  Senate 
bill,  and  on  the  I3th  passed  it,  with  amendments,  by  a  vote  of  113  to  5.  The 
Senate  disagreed  to  one  of  the  House  amendments,  and  the  bill  received  its 
final  form  from  a  conference  committee,  appointed  Feb.  18.  The  act  was 
approved  March  2. 

REFERENCES.—  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  II.,  426-430.  For  the  pro 
ceedings,  see  the  House  and  Senate  Jotirnals,  9th  Cong.,  2cl  Sess.  Discussions 
in  the  Senate  are  not  reported;  there  are  meagre  accounts  of  those  in  the 
House  in  the  Annals,  and  Benton's  Abridgment,  III.  The  best  account  of 
the  proceedings  is  in  Du  Bois's  Suppression  of  the  Slave  Trade,  94-109.  See 
also  Adams's  United  States,  III.,  356-367;  Wilson's  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave 
Power,  I.,  chap.  7. 

An  A  CT  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  Slaves  into  any  port  or 
place  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  from  and 
after  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  from  and 
after  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eight,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  to  import  or  bring  into  the  United 
States  or  the  territories  thereof  from  any  foreign  kingdom,  place, 
or  country,  any  negro,  mulatto,  or  person  of  colour,  with  intent  to 
hold,  sell,  or  dispose  of  such  negro,  mulatto,  or  person  of  colour, 
as  a  slave,  or  to  be  held  to  service  or  labour. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  citizen  or  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  or  any  other  person,  shall,  from  and  after  the 
first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eight,  for  himself,  or  themselves,  or  any  other  per 
son  whatsoever,  either  as  master,  factor,  or  owner,  build,  fit,  equip, 
load  or  otherwise  prepare  any  ship  or  vessel,  in  any  port  or  place 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  nor  shall  cause  any 
ship  or  vessel  to  sail  from  any  port  or  place  within  the  same,  for 
the  purpose  of  procuring  any  negro,  mulatto,  or  person  of  colour, 
from  any  foreign  kingdom,  place,  or  country,  to  be  transported  to 
any  port  or  place  whatsoever,  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States,  to  be  held,  sold,  or  disposed  of  as  slaves,  or  to  be  held  to 
service  or  labour :  and  if  any  ship  or  vessel  shall  be  so  fitted  out 
for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  or  shall  be  caused  to  sail  so  as  aforesaid, 


1807]  PROHIBITION   OF   SLAVE  TRADE  1/3 

every  such  ship  or  vessel,  her  tackle,  apparel,  and  furniture,  shall 
be  forfeited  to  the  United  States,  and  shall  be  liable  to  be  seized, 
prosecuted,  and  condemned  in  any  of  the  circuit  courts  or  district 
courts,  for  the  district  where  the  said  ship  or  vessel  may  be  found 
or  seized. 

SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  and  every  person  so 
building,  fitting  out,  equipping,  loading,  or  otherwise  preparing  or 
sending  away,  any  ship  or  vessel,  knowing  or  intending  that  the 
same  shall  be  employed  in  such  trade  or  business,  from  and  after 
the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight, 
contrary  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act,  or  any  ways 
aiding  or  abetting  therein,  shall  severally  forfeit  and  pay  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  one  moiety  thereof  to  the  use  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  other  moiety  to  the  use  of  any  person  or  persons 
who  shall  sue  for  and  prosecute  the  same  to  effect. 

SEC.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  If  any  citizen  or  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  or  any  person  resident  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  same,  shall,  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  January,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  take  on  board,  receive  or  trans 
port  from  any  of  the  coasts  or  kingdoms  of  Africa,  or  from  any 
other  foreign  kingdom,  place,  or  country,  any  negro,  mulatto,  or 
person  of  colour,  in  any  ship  or  vessel,  for  the  purpose  of  selling 
them  in  any  port  or  place  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States  as  slaves,  or  to  be  held  to  service  or  labour,  or  shall  be  in 
any  ways  aiding  or  abetting  therein,  such  citizen  or  citizens,  or 
person,  shall  severally  forfeit  and  pay  five  thousand  dollars,  one 
moiety  thereof  to  the  use  of  any  person  or  persons  who  shall  sue 
for  and  prosecute  the  same  to  effect ;  and  every  such  ship  or 
vessel  in  which  such  negro,  mulatto,  or  person  of  colour,  shall 
have  been  taken  on  board,  received,  or  transported  as  aforesaid, 
her  tackle,  apparel,  and  furniture,  and  the  goods  and  effects 
which  shall  be  found  on  board  the  same,  shall  be  forfeited  to 
the  United  States,  and  shall  be  liable  to  be  seized,  prosecuted, 
and  condemned  in  any  of  the  circuit  courts  or  district  courts  in 
the  district  where  the  said  ship  or  vessel  may  be  found  or  seized. 
And  neither  the  importer,  nor  any  person  or  persons  claiming 
from  or  under  him,  shall  hold  any  right  or  title  whatsoever  to 
any  negro,  mulatto,  or  person  of  colour,  nor  to  the  service  or 
labour  thereof,  who  may  be  imported  or  brought  within  the 
United  States,  or  territories  thereof,  in  violation  of  this  law,  but 


1/4  PROHIBITION   OF   SLAVE  TRADE  [March  2 

the  same  shall  remain  subject  to  any  regulations  not  contravening 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  which  the  legislatures  of  the  several 
states  or  territories  at  any  time  hereafter  may  make,  for  disposing 
of  any  such  negro,  mulatto,  or  person  of  colour. 

[SEC.  5.  Any  citizen  of  the  United  States  bringing  any  slave 
from  any  foreign  country,  and  selling  the  same,  to  be  imprisoned 
for  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  ten  years,  and  fined  not  less 
than  $1000  nor  more  than  $10,000.] 

SEC.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  if  any  person  or  per 
sons  whatsoever,  shall,  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  January,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  purchase  or  sell  any  negro, 
mulatto,  or  person  of  colour,  for  a  slave,  or  to  be  held  to  service 
or  labour,  who  shall  have  been  imported,  or  brought  from  any 
foreign  kingdom,  place,  or  country,  or  from  the  dominions  of 
any  foreign  state,  immediately  adjoining  to  the  United  States, 
into  any  port  or  place  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States, 
after  the  last  day  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seven,  knowing  at  the  time  of  such  purchase  or  sale,  such  negro, 
mulatto,  or  person  of  colour,  was  so  brought  within  the  jurisdic 
tion  of  the  United  States,  as  aforesaid,  such  purchaser  and  seller 
shall  severally  forfeit  and  pay  for  every  negro,  mulatto,  or  person 
of  colour,  so  purchased  or  sold  as  aforesaid,  eight  hundred  dol 
lars ;  one  moiety  thereof  to  the  United  States,  and  the  other 
moiety  to  the  use  of  any  person  or  persons  who  shall  sue  for  and 
prosecute  the  same  to  effect :  Provided,  that  the  aforesaid  for 
feiture  shall  not  extend  to  the  seller  or  purchaser  of  any  negro, 
mulatto,  or  person  of  colour,  who  may  be  sold  or  disposed  of  in 
virtue  of  any  regulation  which  may  hereafter  be  made  by  any  of 
the  legislatures  of  the  several  states  in  that  respect,  in  pursuance 
of  this  act,  and  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 

SEC.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  if  any  ship  or  vessel 
shall  be  found,  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  in  any  river,  port,  bay,  or  harbor, 
or  on  the  high  seas,  within  the  jurisdictional  limits  of  the  United 
States,  or  hovering  on  the  coast  thereof,  having  on  board  any 
negro,  mulatto,  or  person  of  colour,  for  the  purpose  of  selling 
them  as  slaves,  or  with  intent  to  land  the  same,  in  any  port  or 
place  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  contrary  to 
the  prohibition  of  this  act,  every  such  ship  or  vessel,  together 
with  her  tackle,  apparel,  and  furniture,  and  the  goods  or  effects 


1807]  PROHIBITION   OF   SLAVE  TRADE  1/5 

which  shall  be  found  on  board  the  same,  shall  be  forfeited  to  the 
use  of  the  United  States,  and  may  be  seized,  prosecuted,  and  con 
demned,  in  any  court  of  the  United  States,  having  jurisdiction 
thereof.  And  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized,  should  he  deem  it  expedient, 
to  cause  any  of  the  armed  vessels  of  the  United  States  to  be 
manned  and  employed  to  cruise  on  any  part  of  the  coast  of  the 
United  States,  or  territories  thereof,  where  he  may  judge  attempts 
will  be  made  to  violate  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  to  instruct 
and  direct  the  commanders  of  armed  vessels  of  the  United  States, 
to  seize,  take,  and  bring  into  any  port  of  the  United  States  all 
such  ships  or  vessels,  and  moreover  to  seize,  take,  and  bring  into 
any  port  of  the  United  States  all  ships  or  vessels  of  the  United 
States,  wheresoever  found  on  the  high  seas,  contravening  the  pro 
visions  of  this  act,  to  be  proceeded  against  according  to  law,  and 
the  captain,  master,  or  commander  of  every  such  ship  or  vessel, 
so  found  and  seized  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  high 
misdemeanor,  and  shall  be  liable  to  be  prosecuted  before  any 
court  of  the  United  States,  having  jurisdiction  thereof;  and  being 
thereof  convicted,  shall  be  fined  not  exceeding  ten  thousand  dol 
lars,  and  be  imprisoned  not  less  than  two  years,  and  not  exceed 
ing  four  years.  And  the  proceeds  of  all  ships  and  vessels,  their 
tackle,  apparel,  and  furniture,  and  the  goods  and  effects  on  board 
of  them,  which  shall  be  so  seized,  prosecuted  and  condemned, 
shall  be  divided  equally  between  the  United  States  and  the  offi 
cers  and  men  who  shall  make  such  seizure,  take,  or  bring  the 
same  into  port  for  condemnation,  whether  such  seizure  be  made 
by  an  armed  vessel  of  the  United  States,  or  revenue  cutters 
thereof,  and  the  same  shall  be  distributed  in  like  manner,  as  is 
provided  by  law,  for  the  distribution  of  prizes  taken  from  an 
enemy  :  Provided,  that  the  officers  and  men,  to  be  entitled  to 
one  half  of  the  proceeds  aforesaid,  shall  safe  keep  every  negro, 
mulatto,  or  person  of  colour,  found  on  board  of  any  ship  or  vessel 
so  by  them  seized,  taken,  or  brought  into  port  for  condemnation, 
and  shall  deliver  every  such  negro,  mulatto,  or  person  of  colour, 
to  such  person  or  persons  as  shall  be  appointed  by  the  respective 
states,  to  receive  the  same ;  and  if  no  such  person  or  persons 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  respective  states,  they  shall  deliver 
every  such  negro,  mulatto,  or  person  of  colour,  to  the  overseers 
of  the  poor  of  the  port  or  place  where  such  ship  or  vessel  may  be 


176  EMBARGO  ACT  [Dec.  22 

brought  or  found,  and  shall  immediately  transmit  to  the  governor 
or  chief  magistrate  of  the  state,  an  account  of  their  proceedings, 
together  with  the  number  of  such  negroes,  mulattoes,  or  persons 
of  colour,  and  a  descriptive  list  of  the  same,  that  he  may  give 
directions  respecting  such  negroes,  mulattoes,  or  persons  of  colour. 
[The  remaining  sections  prescribe  administrative  regulations.] 


No.    27.     Embargo  Act 

December  22,  1807 

THE  provisions  in  the  treaty  of  1794  with  Great  Britain  relative  to  neutral 
commerce  expired  by  limitation  in  1806.  April  18,  1806,  Congress  passed  an 
act  prohibiting  the  importation  of  certain  articles  from  Great  Britain  and  her 
colonies  after  Nov.  15;  but  Dec.  19  the  act  was  suspended  until  July  i,  1807. 
Great  Britain  also  refused  to  give  up  her  asserted  right  of  impressment,  and 
on  Oct.  16,  1807,  a  proclamation  was  issued  "for  recalling  and  prohibiting 
British  seamen  from  serving  foreign  Princes  and  States."  In  a  message  of 
Dec.  1 8,  1807,  transmitting  a  copy  of  this  proclamation,  Jefferson  urged  the 
attention  of  Congress  to  "  the  advantages  which  may  be  expected  from  an 
inhibition  of  the  departure  of  our  vessels  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States." 
A  bill  for  an  embargo  was  at  once  introduced  in  the  Senate,  and  passed  that 
body  the  same  day,  by  a  vote  of  22  to  6.  On  the  2ist  the  bill  with  amend 
ments  passed  the  House,  by  a  vote  of  82  to  44;  on  the  22d  the  amendments 
were  concurred  in  by  the  Senate,  and  the  act  was  approved.  An  act  of  April 
22,  1808,  authorized  the  President  to  suspend  the  embargo  acts  in  the  event 
of  peace  or  suspension  of  hostilities  between  the  European  belligerents. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  II.,  451-453.  For  the  dis 
cussions  in  Congress,  see  the  Annals,  loth  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  I.,  or  Benton's 
Abridgment,  III.  Numerous  documents  relating  to  British  depredations  on 
American  commerce  during  this  period  are  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Foreign 
Relations,  III. :  see  particularly  the  royal  proclamation  of  Oct.  16,  1807,  ib., 
25,  26;  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  March  2,  1808,  on  impressment  of 
American  seamen,  ib.,  36—79  ;  and  message  of  Dec.  28,  1808,  transmitting 
orders  and  decrees  of  belligerent  Powers  affecting  neutral  commerce  since 
1791,  ib.,  262-294.  For  the  various  supplementary  acts  of  Jan.  9,  March  12, 
April  22,  and  April  25,  1808,  and  Jan.  9,  1809,  see  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  II. ,453, 
454,  473-475,  490,  499-502,  506-511;  for  judicial  decisions  under  the  acts,  ib., 
451,  452.  On  the  effect  of  the  embargo,  see  Gallatin's  annual  report,  Dec.  16, 
1808,  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Finance,  II.,  307-309.  Carey's  Olive  Branch 
(ed.  1815)  collects  numerous  documents  for  this  period.  The  best  general 
account  is  in  Adams's  United  States,  IV.  See  also  Hildreth's  United  States, 
VI.,  chaps.  20,  21 ;  Johnston,  in  Lalor^s  Cyclopaedia,  II.,  79-85 ;  Randall's  Jeffer- 
son,  III.,  chaps.  6,  7;  Jefferson's  Works  (ed.  1853),  V.,  275,  336,  352,  353;  VII., 
373.374,424-426;  Madison's  Writings  (ed.  1865),  III.,  443-446;  IV.,  359, 360. 


1807]  NON-INTERCOURSE  ACT  1  77 

An  A  CT  laying  an  Embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports 
and  harbors  of  the   United  States. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  an  embargo 
be,  and  hereby  is  laid  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and 
places  within  the  limits  or  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  cleared 
or  not  cleared,  bound  to  any  foreign  port  or  place  ;  and  that  no 
clearance  be  furnished  to  any  ship  or  vessel  bound  to  such  foreign 
port  or  place,  except  vessels  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States  :  and  that  the  President  be 
authorized  to  give  such  instructions  to  the  officers  of  the  revenue, 
and  of  the  navy  and  revenue  cutters  of  the  United  States,  as  shall 
appear  best  adapted  for  carrying  the  same  into  full  effect  :  Pro 
vided,  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent 
the  departure  of  any  foreign  ship  or  vessel,  either  in  ballast,  or 
with  the  goods,  wares  and  merchandise  on  board  of  such  foreign 
ship  or  vessel,  when  notified  of  this  act. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  during  the  continuance 
of  this  act,  no  registered,  or  sea  letter  vessel,  having  on  board 
goods,  wares  and  merchandise,  shall  be  allowed  to  depart  from 
one  port  of  the  United  States  to  any  other  within  the  same,  unless 
the  master,  owner,  consignee  or  factor  of  such  vessel  shall  first 
give  bond,  with  one  or  more  sureties  to  the  collector  of  the  district 
from  which  she  is  bound  to  depart,  in  a  sum  of  double  the  value 
of  the  vessel  and  cargo,  that  the  said  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise 
shall  be  relanded  in  some  port  of  the  United  States,  dangers  of 
the  seas  excepted,  which  bond,  and  also  a  certificate  from  the 
collector  where  the  same  may  be  relanded,  shall  by  the  collector 
respectively  be  transmitted  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  All 
armed  vessels  possessing  public  commissions  from  any  foreign 
power,  are  not  to  be  considered  as  liable  to  the  embargo  laid  by 
this  act. 


No.   28.     Non-Intercourse  Act 

March  i,  1809 

DURING  the  early  part  of  the  session  of  1808-9  the  Federalists  made  un 
successful  attempts  to  secure  the  repeal  of  the  embargo  acts.  In  spite  of  its 
ruinous  effect  on  American  commerce,  the  embargo  was  still  regarded  with  favor, 
except  in  New  England.  In  February,  1809,  however,  the  statement  of  J.  Q. 

N 


NON-INTERCOURSE  ACT  [March  I 

Adams  regarding  the  dangerous  condition  of  public  feeling  in  New  England 
led  the  Republican  leaders  to  modify  their  policy.  February  8  Wm.  B.  Giles 
of  Virginia  submitted  in  the  Senate  a  resolution  for  the  repeal  of  the  embargo 
after  March  4,  except  as  to  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  to  prohibit  commer 
cial  intercourse  with  those  nations.  February  14,  by  a  vote  of  22  to  9,  the  reso 
lution  was  agreed  to,  after  an  unsuccessful  attempt,  led  by  Bayard,  to  strike 
out  the  non-intercourse  clause.  A  bill  in  conformity  with  the  resolution  was 
introduced  on  the  1 6th,  and  on  the  2 1st  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  21  to 
12.  A  bill  to  the  same  effect  had  been  introduced  in  the  House  Feb.  n,  and 
was  still  under  discussion;  on  the  22d,  however,  it  was  laid  on  the  table,  and 
the  House  took  up  the  Senate  bill  in  its  place,  finally  passing  it  with  amend 
ments,  on  the  27th,  by  a  vote  of  81  to  40.  The  next  day  the  Senate  agreed  to 
the  House  amendments,  and  March  I  the  act  was  approved. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  II.,  528-533.  The  proceed 
ings  of  Congress  are  in  ti\e  Journals,  lOthCong.,  2d  Sess.;  for  the  discussions, 
including  debates  on  the  embargo  and  its  enforcement,  and  British  and  French 
aggressions,  see  the  Annals,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  IV.  A  digest  of  deci 
sions  under  the  non-intercourse  acts  is  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  II.,  528.  See 
further,  Adams's  United  States,  IV.,  chap.  19;  and  references  under  the  em 
bargo  act,  ante. 

An  ACT  to  interdict  the  commercial  intercourse  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  their  dependencies  ; 
and  for  other  purposes. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  from  and 
after  the  passing  of  this  act,  the  entrance  of  the  harbors  and 
waters  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  territories  thereof,  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby  interdicted  to  all  public  ships  and  vessels 
belonging  to  Great  Britain  or  France,  excepting  vessels  only  which 
may  be  forced  in  by  distress,  or  which  are  charged  with  despatches 
or  business  from  the  government  to  which  they  belong,  and  also 
packets  having  no  cargo  nor  merchandise  on  board.  And  if  any 
public  ship  or  vessel  as  aforesaid,  not  being  included  in  the  ex 
ception  above  mentioned,  shall  enter  any  harbor  or  waters  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  territories  thereof, 
it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  President  of  the  United  States,  or  such 
other  person  as  he  shall  have  empowered  for  that  purpose,  to 
employ  such  part  of  the  land  and  naval  forces,  or  of  the  militia 
of  the  United  States,  or  the  territories  thereof,  as  he  shall  deem 
necessary,  to  compel  such  ship  or  vessel  to  depart. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  not  be  lawful 
for  any  citizen  or  citizens  of  the  United  States  or  the  territories 


1809]  NON-INTERCOURSE  ACT  179 

thereof,  nor  for  any  person  or  persons  residing  or  being  in  the 
same,  to  have  any  intercourse  with,  or  to  afford  any  aid  or  supplies 
to  any  public  ship  or  vessel  as  aforesaid,  which  shall,  contrary  to 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  have  entered  any  harbor  or  waters 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  or  the  territories 
thereof;  and  if  any  person  shall,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  have  any  intercourse  with  such  ship  or  vessel,  or  shall 
afford  any  aid  to  such  ship  or  vessel,  either  in  repairing  the  said 
vessel  or  in  furnishing  her,  her  officers  and  crew  with  supplies  of 
any  kind  or  in  any  manner  whatever,  or  if  any  pilot  or  other  per 
son  shall  assist  in  navigating  or  piloting  such  ship  or  vessel,  unless 
it  be  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  her  beyond  the  limits  and  juris 
diction  of  the  United  States,  every  person  so  offending,  shall  for 
feit  and  pay  a  sum  not  less  than  one  hundred  dollars,  nor  exceeding 
ten  thousand  dollars ;  and  shall  also  be  imprisoned  for  a  term  not 
less  than  one  month,  nor  more  than  one  year. 

SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  from  and  after  the 
twentieth  day  of  May  next,  the  entrance  of  the  harbors  and  waters 
of  the  United  States  and  the  territories  thereof  be,  and  the  same 
is  hereby  interdicted  to  all  ships  or  vessels  sailing  under  the  flag 
of  Great  Britain  or  France,  or  owned  in  whole  or  in  part  by  any 
citizen  or  subject  of  either;  vessels  hired,  chartered  or  employed 
by  the  government  of  either  country,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  car 
rying  letters  or  despatches,  and  also  vessels  forced  in  by  distress 
or  by  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  only  excepted.  And  if  any  ship  or 
vessel  sailing  under  the  flag  of  Great  Britain  or  P'rance,  or  owned 
in  whole  or  in  part  by  any  citizen  or  subject  of  either,  and  not 
excepted  as  aforesaid,  shall  after  the  said  twentieth  day  of  May 
next,  arrive  either  with  or  without  a  cargo,  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  States  or  of  the  territories  thereof,  such  ship  or  vessel,  to 
gether  with  the  cargo,  if  any,  which  may  be  found  on  board,  shall 
be  forfeited,  and  may  be  seized  and  condemned  in  any  court  of 
the  United  States  or  the  territories  thereof,  having  competent 
jurisdiction,  and  all  and  every  act  and  acts  heretofore  passed, 
which  shall  be  within  the  purview  of  this  act,  shall  be,  and  the 
same  are  hereby  repealed. 

SEC.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  from  and  after  the 
twentieth  day  of  May  next,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  to  import  into 
the  United  States  or  the  territories  thereof,  any  goods,  wares  or 
merchandise  whatever,  from  any  port  or  place  situated  in  Great 


180  NON-INTERCOURSE  ACT  [March  I 

Britain  or  Ireland,  or  in  any  of  the  colonies  or  dependencies  of 
Great  Britain,  nor  from  any  port  or  place  situated  in  France,  or 
in  any  of  her  colonies  or  dependencies,  nor  from  any  port  or  place 
in  the  actual  possession  of  either  Great  Britain  or  France.  Nor 
shall  it  be  lawful  to  import  into  the  United  States,  or  the  terri 
tories  thereof,  from  any  foreign  port  or  place  whatever,  any 
goods,  wares  or  merchandise  whatever,  being  of  the  growth, 
produce  or  manufacture  of  France,  or  of  any  of  her  colonies 
or  dependencies,  or  being  of  the  growth,  produce  or  manu 
facture  of  Great  Britain  or  Ireland,  or  of  any  of  the  colonies 
or  dependencies  of  Great  Britain,  or  being  of  the  growth,  produce 
or  manufacture  of  any  place  or  country  in  the  actual  possession  of 
either  France  or  Great  Britain  :  Provided,  that  nothing  herein  con 
tained  shall  be  construed  to  affect  the  cargoes  of  ships  or  vessels 
wholly  owned  by  a  citizen  or  citizens  of  the  United  States,  which 
had  cleared  for  any  port  beyond  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  prior 
to  the  twenty-second  day  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hun 
dred  and  seven,  or  which  had  departed  for  such  port  by  permis 
sion  of  the  President,  under  the  acts  supplementary  to  the  act 
laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  har 
bors  of  the  United  States. 

[Sec.  5  provides  for  the  forfeiture  of  articles  imported  contrary 
to  the  provisions  of  the  act.] 

SEC.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  if  any  article  or  arti 
cles,  the  importation  of  which  is  prohibited  by  this  act,  shall, 
after  the  twentieth  of  May,  be  put  on  board  of  any  ship  or  vessel, 
boat,  raft  or  carriage,  with  intention  to  import  the  same  into  the 
United  States,  or  the  territories  thereof,  contrary  to  the  true  intent 
and  meaning  of  this  act,  and  with  the  knowledge  of  the  owner  or 
master  of  such  ship  or  vessel,  boat,  raft  or  carnage,  such  ship  or 
vessel,  boat,  raft  or  carriage  shall  be  forfeited,  and  the  owner  and 
master  thereof  shall  moreover  each  forfeit  and  pay  treble  the  value 
of  such  articles. 

[Sections  7-10  prescribe  administrative  regulations.] 

SEC.  ii.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  President  of  the 
United  States  be,  and  he  hereby  is  authorized,  in  case  either 
France  or  Great  Britain  shall  so  revoke  or  modify  her  edicts,  as 
that  they  shall  cease  to  violate  the  neutral  commerce  of  the 
United  States,  to  declare  the  same  by  proclamation ;  after  which 
the  trade  of  the  United  States,  suspended  by  this  act,  and  by  the 


1809]  NON-INTERCOURSE  ACT  l8l 

act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and 
harbors  of  the  United  States,  and  the  several  acts  supplementary 
thereto,  may  be  renewed  with  the  nation  so  doing :  *  Provided, 
that  all  penalties  and  forfeitures  which  shall  have  been  previously 
incurred,  by  virtue  of  this  or  of  any  other  act,  the  operation  of 
which  shall  so  cease  and  determine,  shall  be  recovered  and  dis 
tributed,  in  like  manner  as  if  the  same  had  continued  in  full  force 
and  virtue  :  and  vessels  bound  thereafter  to  any  foreign  port  or 
place,  with  which  commercial  intercourse  shall  by  virtue  of  this 
section  be  again  permitted,  shall  give  bond  to  the  United  States, 
with  approved  security,  in  double  the  value  of  the  vessel  and 
cargo,  that  they  shall  not  proceed  to  any  foreign  port,  nor  trade 
with  any  country  other  than  those  with  which  commercial  inter 
course  shall  have  been  or  may  be  permitted  by  this  act. 

SEC.  12.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  so  much  of  the  act 
laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  har 
bors  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  several  acts  supplementary 
thereto,  as  forbids  the  departure  of  vessels  owned  by  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  exportation  of  domestic  and  foreign 
merchandise  to  any  foreign  port  or  place,  be  and  the  same  is 
hereby  repealed,  after  the  fifteenth  day  of  March,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  nine,  except  so  far  as  they  relate  to  Great 
Britain  or  France,  or  their  colonies  or  dependencies,  or  places  in 
the  actual  possession  of  either.  .  .  . 

SEC.  13.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  during  the  continu 
ance  of  so  much  of  the  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and 
vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the 
several  acts  supplementary  thereto,  as  is  not  repealed  by  this  act, 
no  ship  or  vessel  bound  to  a  foreign  port,  with  which  commercial 
intercourse  shall,  by  virtue  of  this  act,  be  again  permitted,  shall 
be  allowed  to  depart  for  such  port,  unless  the  owner  or  owners, 
consignee  or  factor  of  such  ship  or  vessel  shall,  with  the  master, 
have  given  bond  with  one  or  more  sureties  to  the  United  States, 
in  a  sum  double  the  value  of  the  vessel  and  cargo,  if  the  vessel  is 
wholly  owned  by  a  citizen  or  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  and 
in  a  sum  four  times  the  value,  if  the  vessel  is  owned  in  part  or  in 
whole  by  any  foreigner  or  foreigners,  that  the  vessel  shall  not 
leave  the  port  without  a  clearance,  nor  shall,  when  leaving  the 
port,  proceed  to  any  port  or  place  in  Great  Britain  or  France,  or 
*  See  act  of  March  2,  1811  (Stat.  at  Large,  II.,  651,  652).  — ED. 


1 82  NON-INTERCOURSE  ACT  [March  I 

in  the  colonies  or  dependencies  of  either,  or  in  the  actual  pos 
session  of  either,  nor  be  directly  or  indirectly  engaged  during  the 
voyage  in  any  trade  with  such  port,  nor  shall  put  any  article  on 
board  of  any  other  vessel ;  nor  unless  every  other  requisite  and 
provision  of  the  second  section  of  the  act,  intituled  "  An  act  to 
enforce  and  make  more  effectual  an  act,  intituled  An  act  laying 
an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  several  acts  supplementary  thereto,"  * 
shall  have  been  complied  with.  And  the  party  or  parties  to  the 
above  mentioned  bond  shall,  within  a  reasonable  time  after  the 
date  of  the  same,  to  be  expressed  in  the  said  bond,  produce  to 
the  collector  of  the  district,  from  which  the  vessel  shall  have  been 
cleared,  a  certificate  of  the  landing  of  the  same,  in  the  same  man 
ner  as  is  provided  by  law  for  the  landing  of  goods  exported  with 
the  privilege  of  drawback ;  on  failure  whereof,  the  bond  shall  be 
put  in  suit ;  and  in  every  such  suit  judgment  shall  be  given  against 
the  defendant  or  defendants,  unless  proof  shall  be  produced  of 
such  relanding,  or  of  loss  at  sea. 

SEC.  14.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  so  much  of  the  act 
laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  har 
bors  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  several  acts  supplementary 
thereto,  as  compels  vessels  owned  by  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
bound  to  another  port  of  the  said  States,  or  vessels  licensed  for 
the  coasting  trade,  or  boats,  either  not  masted  or  not  decked,  to 
give  bond,  and  to  load  under  the  inspection  of  a  revenue  officer, 
or  renders  them  liable  to  detention,  merely  on  account  of  the 
nature  of  their  cargo,  (such  provisions  excepted  as  relate  to  col 
lection  districts  adjacent  to  the  territories,  colonies  or  provinces 
of  a  foreign  nation,  or  to  vessels  belonging  or  bound  to  such  dis 
tricts)  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  repealed,  from  and  after  the 
fifteenth  day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  nine.  .  .  . 

SEC.  15.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  during  the  continu 
ance  of  so  much  of  the  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and 
vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the 
several  acts  supplementary  thereto,  as  is  not  repealed  by  this  act, 
no  vessel  owned  by  citizens  of  the  United  States,  bound  to  another 
port  of  the  said  States  or  licensed  for  the  coasting  trade,  shall  be 
allowed  to  depart  from  any  port  of  the  United  States,  or  shall 
receive  a  clearance,  nor  shall  it  be  lawful  to  put  on  board  any 

*  Act  of  Jan.  9,  1809  (Stat.  at  Large,  II.,  506-511).  —  ED. 


1809]  MADISON'S   WAR  MESSAGE  183 

such  vessel  any  specie  or  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise,  unless  a 
permit  shall  have  been  previously  obtained  from  the  proper  col 
lector,  or  from  a  revenue  officer,  authorized  by  the  collector  to 
grant  such  permits;  nor  unless  the  owner,  consignee,  agent,  or 
factor  shall,  with  the  master,  give  bond  with  one  or  more  sureties, 
to  the  United  States,  in  a  sum  double  the  value  of  the  vessel  and 
cargo,  that  the  vessel  shall  not  proceed  to  any  foreign  port  or 
place,  and  that  the  cargo  shall  be  relanded  in  some  port  of  the 
United  States  :  Provided,  that  it  shall  be  lawful  and  sufficient  in 
the  case  of  any  such  vessel,  whose  employment  has  been  uniformly 
confined  to  rivers,  bays  and  sounds  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States,  to  give  bond  in  an  amount  equal  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  for  each  ton  of  said  vessel,  with  condition  that 
such  vessel  shall  not,  during  the  time  limited  in  the  condition  of 
the  bond,  proceed  to  any  foreign  port  or  place,  or  put  any  article 
on  board  of  any  other  vessel,  or  be  employed  in  any  foreign  trade. 

[Sec.  1 6  prescribes  penalties.] 

[Sec.  17  repeals  act  of  April  18,  1806,  and  supplementary  act, 
after  May  20.] 

[Sec.  1 8  provides  for  the  recovery  and  mitigation  of  penalties 
and  forfeitures.] 

SEC.  19.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  act  shall  con 
tinue  and  be  in  force  until  the  end  of  the  next  session  of  Congress, 
and  no  longer ;  and  that  the  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships 
and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
several  acts  supplementary  thereto,  shall  be,  and  the  same  are 
hereby  repealed  from  and  after  the  end  of  the  next  session  of 
Congress. 


No.   29.     Madison's  War  Message 

June  i,   1812 

APRIL  19,  1809,  Madison,  on  the  strength  of  Erskine's  assurance  that  the 
Orders  in  Council  would  be  withdrawn,  issued  a  proclamation  suspending  the 
non-intercourse  act  as  against  Great  Britain  after  June  10;  but  Erskine's 
action  was  disavowed,  and  a  proclamation  of  Aug.  9  again  put  the  act  in 
operation.  By  act  of  May  I,  1810,  it  was  provided  that  if  either  Great  Britain 
or  France  revoked  or  modified  its  edicts  so  "  that  they  shall  cease  to  violate 
the  neutral  commerce  of  the  United  States,"  the  non-intercourse  act  should 
be  enforced  against  the  other.  Madison  was  shortly  led  to  believe  that  the 


1 84  MADISON'S   WAR   MESSAGE  [June  i 

French  decrees  had  been  revoked,  and  Nov.  I  he  issued  a  proclamation  de 
claring  trade  with  Great  Britain  suspended.  It  was  soon  known  that  he  had 
been  deceived.  During  the  next  few  months  a  series  of  acts  were  passed  pre 
paratory  to  war.  March  9,  1812,  Madison  sent  the  Henry  documents  to  Con 
gress.  April  I  he  recommended  an  embargo  for  sixty  days,  to  which  Congress 
responded  with  the  act  of  April  4,  laying  an  embargo  for  ninety  days.  In 
May  came  a  final  statement  from  the  British  minister  that  Great  Britain  "  would 
not  recede  from  its  policy  toward  neutrals."  The  time  for  negotiation  and 
delay  had  passed,  and  June  I  Madison  sent  to  Congress  the  confidential 
message  following. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Hotise  Supplementary  Journal^  i2th  Cong.,  ist 
Sess.  (ed.  1826,  VIII.,  454-457).  The  journal  is  also  in  the  Annals,  I2th 
Cong.,  1587-1694.  The  diplomatic  correspondence  of  the  period  is  in  Amer. 
State  Papers,  Foreign  Relations,  III. :  see  particularly  the  Erskine  correspond 
ence,  ib.,  295-297,  299-308;  report  of  House  committee,  Nov.  29,  181 1,  recom 
mending  measures  of  resistance,  ib.,  537,  538;  the  Henry  documents,  545-557. 
There  are  numerous  discussions  of  the  events  of  1809-12,  and  of  the  attitude 
of  Madison :  among  recent  accounts  see  especially  Adams's  United  States, 
VI.,  chaps.  7-11;  McMaster's  United  States,  III.,  chaps.  20,  21.  For  Madi 
son's  correspondence  during  the  early  part  of  1812,  see  his  Writings  (ed.  1865), 
II.,  523-538. 

To  the  Senate  and  Hotise  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  : 

I  COMMUNICATE  to  Congress  certain  documents,  being  a  contin 
uation  of  those  heretofore  laid  before  them,  on  the  subject  of  our 
affairs  with  Great  Britain. 

Without  going  back  beyond  the  renewal,  in  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  three,  of  the  war  in  which  Great  Britain  is  engaged, 
and  omitting  unrepaired  wrongs  of  inferior  magnitude,  the  con 
duct  of  her  Government  presents  a  series  of  acts,  hostile  to  the 
United  States  as  an  independent  and  neutral  nation. 
J  British  cruisers  have  been  in  the  continued  practice  of  violating 

the  American  flag  on  the  great  high-way  of  nations,  and  of  seizing 
and  carrying  off  persons  sailing  under  it ;  not  in  the  exercise  of  a 
belligerent  right  founded  on  the  law  of  nations  against  an  enemy, 
but  of  a  municipal  prerogative  over  British  subjects.  British 
jurisdiction  is  thus  extended  to  neutral  vessels,  in  a  situation 
where  no  laws  can  operate  but  the  law  of  nations,  and  the  laws  of 
the  country  to  which  the  vessels  belong ;  and  a  self-redress  is 
assumed,  which,  if  British  subjects  were  wrongfully  detained  and 
alone  concerned,  is  that  substitution  of  force,  for  a  resort  to  the 
responsible  sovereign,  which  falls  within  the  definition  of  war. 
Could  the  seizure  of  British  subjects,  in  such  cases,  be  regarded 


1812]  MADISON'S  WAR  MESSAGE  185 

as  within  the  exercise  of  a  belligerent  right,  the  acknowledged 
laws  of  war,  which  forbid  an  article  of  captured  property  to  be 
adjudged,  without  a  regular  investigation  before  a  competent  tribu 
nal,  would  imperiously  demand  the  fairest  trial,  where  the  sacred 
rights  of  persons  were  at  issue.  In  place  of  such  a  trial,  these 
rights  are  subjected  to  the  will  of  every  petty  commander. 

The  practice,  hence,  is  so  far  from  affecting  British  subjects 
alone,  that,  under  the  pretext  of  searching  for  these,  thousands  of 
American  citizens,  under  the  safeguard  of  public  law,  and  of  their 
national  flag,  have  been  torn  from  their  country,  and  from  every 
thing  dear  to  them ;  have  been  dragged  on  board  of  ships  of  war 
of  a  foreign  nation,  and  exposed,  under  the  severities  of  their  dis 
cipline,  to  be  exiled  to  the  most  distant  and  deadly  climes,  to  risk 
their  lives  in  the  battles  of  their  oppressors,  and  to  be  the  melan 
choly  instruments  of  taking  away  those  of  their  own  brethren. 

Against  this  crying  enormity,  which  Great  Britain  would  be  so 
prompt  to  avenge  if  committed  against  herself,  the  United  States 
have  in  vain  exhausted  remonstrances  and  expostulations ;  and 
that  no  proof  might  be  wanting  of  their  conciliatory  disposition, 
and  no  pretext  left  for  a  continuance  of  the  practice,  the  British 
Government  was  formally  assured  of  the  readiness  of  the  United 
States  to  enter  into  arrangements,  such  as  could  not  be  rejected, 
if  the  recovery  of  British  subjects  were  the  real  and  the  sole 
object.  The  communication  passed  without  effect. 

British  cruisers  have  been  in  the  practice  also  of  violating  the 
rights  and  the  peace  of  our  coasts.  They  hover  over  and  harass 
our  entering  and  departing  commerce.  To  the  most  insulting  pre 
tentious  they  have  added  the  most  lawless  proceedings  in  our  very 
harbors ;  and  have  wantonly  spilt  American  blood  within  the 
sanctuary  of  our  territorial  jurisdiction.  The  principles  and  rules 
enforced  by  that  nation,  when  a  neutral  nation,  against  armed 
vessels  of  belligerents  hovering  near  her  coasts  and  disturbing  her 
commerce,  are  well  known.  When  called  on,  nevertheless,  by  the 
United  States,  to  punish  the  greater  offences  committed  by  her 
own  vessels,  her  Government  has  bestowed  on  their  commanders 
additional  marks  of  honor  and  confidence. 

Under  pretended  blockades,  without  the  presence  of  an  ade 
quate  force,  and  sometimes  without  the  practicability  of  applying 
one,  our  commerce  has  been  plundered  in  every  sea ;  the  great 
staples  of  our  country  have  been  cut  off  from  their  legitimate 


1 86  MADISON'S   WAR  MESSAGE  [June  i 

markets ;  and  a  destructive  blow  aimed  at  our  agricultural  and 
maritime  interests.  In  aggravation  of  these  predatory  measures, 
they  have  been  considered  as  in  force  from  the  dates  of  their 
notification  ;  a  retrospective  effect  being  thus  added,  as  has  been 
done  in  other  important  cases,  to  the  unlawfulness  of  the  course 
pursued.  And  to  render  the  outrage  the  more  signal,  these  mock 
blockades  have  been  reiterated  and  enforced  in  the  face  of  official 
communications  from  the  British  Government,  declaring,  as  the 
true  definition  of  a  legal  blockade,  "  that  particular  ports  must  be 
actually  invested,  and  previous  warning  given  to  vessels  bound  to 
them,  not  to  enter." 

Not  content  with  these  occasional  expedients  for  laying  waste 
our  neutral  trade,  the  Cabinet  of  Britain  resorted,  at  length,  to 
the  sweeping  system  of  blockades,  under  the  name  of  Orders  in 
Council ;  which  has  been  moulded  and  managed,  as  might  best 
suit  its  political  views,  its  commercial  jealousies,  or  the  avidity  of 
British  cruizers. 

To  our  remonstrances  against  the  complicated  and  transcendent 
injustice  of  this  innovation,  the  first  reply  was,  that  the  orders 
were  reluctantly  adopted  by  Great  Britain,  as  a  necessary  retalia 
tion  on  decrees  of  her  enemy,  proclaiming  a  general  blockade  of 
the  British  Isles,  at  a  time  when  the  naval  force  of  that  enemy 
dared  not  issue  from  his  own  ports.  She  was  reminded,  without 
effect,  that  her  own  prior  blockades,  unsupported  by  an  adequate 
naval  force  actually  applied  and  continued,  were  a  bar  to  this 
plea :  that  executed  edicts  against  millions  of  our  property  could 
not  be  retaliation  on  edicts  confessedly  impossible  to  be  executed  : 
that  retaliation,  to  be  just,  should  fall  on  the  party  setting  the 
guilty  example,  not  on  an  innocent  party,  which  was  not  even 
chargeable  with  an  acquiescence  in  it. 

When  deprived  of  this  flimsy  veil  for  a  prohibition  of  our  trade 
with  her  enemy,  by  the  repeal  of  his  prohibition  of  our  trade  with 
Great.  Britain,  her  Cabinet,  instead  of  a  corresponding  repeal,  or 
a  practical  discontinuance  of  its  orders,  formally  avowed  a  de 
termination  to  persist  in  them  against  the  United  States,  until  the 
markets  of  her  enemy  should  be  laid  open  to  British  products ; 
thus  asserting  an  obligation  on  a  neutral  Power  to  require  one 
belligerent  to  encourage,  by  its  internal  regulations,  the  trade  of 
another  belligerent ;  contradicting  her  own  practice  towards  all 
nations,  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war ;  and  betraying  the  insincerity 


1812]  MADISON'S  WAR  MESSAGE  187 

of  those  professions  which  inculcated  a  belief,  that,  having  re 
sorted  to  her  orders  with  regret,  she  was  anxious  to  find  an  occa 
sion  for  putting  an  end  to  them. 

Abandoning  still  more  all  respect  for  the  neutral  rights  of  the 
United  States,  and  for  its  own  consistency,  the  British  Govern 
ment  now  demands,  as  pre-requisites  to  a  repeal  of  its  orders  as 
they  relate  to  the  United  States,  that  a  formality  should  be  ob 
served  in  the  repeal  of  the  French  decrees,  no  wise  necessary  to 
their  termination,  nor  exemplified  by  British  usage ;  and  that  the 
French  repeal,  besides  including  that  portion  of  the  decrees  which 
operate  within  a  territorial  jurisdiction,  as  well  as  that  which  oper 
ates  on  the  high  seas,  against  the  commerce  of  the  United  States, 
should  not  be  a  single  and  special  repeal  in  relation  to  the  United 
States,  but  should  be  extended  to  whatever  other  neutral  nations, 
unconnected  with  them,  may  be  affected  by  those  decrees.  And, 
as  an  additional  insult,  they  are  called  on  for  a  formal  disavowal 
of  conditions  and  pretensions  advanced  by  the  French  Govern 
ment,  for  which  the  United  States  are  so  far  from  having  made 
themselves  responsible,  that,  in  official  explanations  which  have 
been  published  to  the  world,  and  in  a  correspondence  of  the 
American  Minister  at  London  with  the  British  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  such  a  responsibility  was  explicitly  and  emphatically  dis 
claimed. 

It  has  become,  indeed,  sufficiently  certain,  that  the  commerce 
of  the  United  States  is  to  be  sacrificed,  not  as  interfering  with  the 
belligerent  rights  of  Great  Britain ;  not  as  supplying  the  wants  of 
her  enemies,  which  she  herself  supplies ;  but,  as  interfering  with 
the  monopoly  which  she  covets  for  her  own  commerce  and  naviga 
tion.  She  carries  on  a  war  against  the  lawful  commerce  of  a  friend, 
that  she  may  the  better  carry  on  a  commerce  with  an  enemy ;  a 
commerce  polluted  by  the  forgeries  and  perjuries,  which  are,  for 
the  most  part,  the  only  passports  by  which  it  can  succeed. 

Anxious  to  make  every  experiment  short  of  the  last  resori,  of 
injured  nations,  the  United  States  have  withheld  from  Great 
Britain,  under  successive  modifications,  the  benefits  of  a  free  in 
tercourse  with  her  market,  the  loss  o*f  which  could  not  but  out 
weigh  the  profits  accruing  from  her  restrictions  of  our  commerce 
with  other  nations.  And  to  entitle  these  experiments  to  the 
more  favorable  consideration,  they  were  so  framed  as  to  enable 
her  to  place  her  adversary  under  the  exclusive  operation  of  them. 


1 88  MADISON'S   WAR  MESSAGE  [June  I 

To  these  appeals  her  Government  has  been  equally  inflexible,  as 
if  willing  to  make  sacrifices  of  every  sort,  rather  than  yield  to  the 
claims  of  justice,  or  renounce  the  errors  of  a  false  pride.  Nay, 
so  far  were  the  attempts  carried  to  overcome  the  attachment  of 
the  British  Cabinet  to  its  unjust  edicts,  that  it  received  every  en 
couragement  within  the  competency  of  the  Executive  branch  of 
our  Government,  to  expect  that  a  repeal  of  them  would  be  followed 
by  a  war  between  the  United  States  and  France,  unless  the  French 
edicts  should  also  be  repealed.  Even  this  communication,  al 
though  silencing  forever  the  plea  of  a  disposition  in  the  United 
States  to  acquiesce  in  those  edicts,  originally  the  sole  plea  for 
them,  received  no  attention. 

If  no  other  proof  existed  of  a  predetermination  of  the  British 
Government  against  a  repeal  of  its  orders,  it  might  be  found  in 
the  correspondence  of  the  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States  at  London,  and  the  British  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  in 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ten,  on  the  question  whether  the 
blockade  of  May,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  six,  was  con 
sidered  as  in  force,  or  as  not  in  force.  It  had  been  ascertained 
that  the  French  Government,  which  urged  this  blockade  as  the 
ground  of  its  Berlin  decree,  was  willing,  in  the  event  of  its  re 
moval,  to  repeal  that  decree ;  which,  being  followed  by  alternate 
repeals  of  the  other  offensive  edicts,  might  abolish  the  whole 
system  on  both  sides.  This  inviting  opportunity  for  accomplish 
ing  an  object  so  important  to  the  United  States,  and  professed,  so 
often,  to  be  the  desire  of  both  the  belligerents,  was  made  known 
to  the  British  Government.  As  that  Government  admits  that  an 
actual  application  of  an  adequate  force  is  necessary  to  the  exist 
ence  of  legal  blockade,  and  it  was  notorious  that,  if  such  a  force 
had  ever  been  applied,  its  long  discontinuance  had  annulled  the 
blockade  in  question,  there  could  be  no  sufficient  objection  on 
the  part  of  Great  Britain  to  a  formal  revocation  of  it ;  and  no  im 
aginable  objection  to  a  declaration  of  the  fact  that  the  blockade 
did  not  exist.  The  declaration  would  have  been  consistent  with 
her  avowed  principles  of  blockade ;  and  would  have  enabled  the 
United  States  to  demand  from  France  the  pledged  repeal  of  her 
decrees  :  either  with  success,  in  which  case  the  way  would  have 
been  opened  for  a  general  repeal  of  the  belligerent  edicts ;  or 
without  success,  in  which  case  the  United  States  would  have  been 
justified  in  turning  their  measures  exclusively  against  France.  The 


1812]  MADISON'S   WAR  MESSAGE  189 

British  Government  would,  however,  neither  rescind  the  blockade, 
nor  declare  its  non-existence ;  nor  permit  its  non-existence  to  be 
inferred  and  affirmed  by  the  American  Plenipotentiary.  On  the 
contrary,  by  representing  the  blockade  to  be  comprehended  in 
the  Orders  in  Council,  the  United  States  were  compelled  so  to 
regard  it,  in  their  subsequent  proceedings. 

There  was  a  period  when  a  favorable  change  in  the  policy  of 
the  British  Cabinet  was  justly  considered  as  established.  The 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  here,  proposed 
an  adjustment  of  the  differences  more  immediately  endangering 
the  harmony  of  the  two  countries.  The  proposition  was  accepted 
with  the  promptitude  and  cordiality  corresponding  with  the  in 
variable  professions  of  this  Government.  A  foundation  appeared 
to  be  laid  for  a  sincere  and  lasting  reconciliation.  The  prospect, 
however,  quickly  vanished.  The  whole  proceeding  was  disavowed 
by  the  British  Government,  without  any  explanations,  which  could, 
at  that  time,  repress  the  belief,  that  the  disavowal  proceeded  from 
a  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  commercial  rights  and  prosperity  of  the 
United  States.  And  it  has  since  come  into  proof,  that,  at  the  very 
moment  when  the  Public  Minister  was  holding  the  language  of 
friendship,  and  inspiring  confidence  in  the  sincerity  of  the  nego 
tiation  with  which  he  was  charged,  a  secret  Agent  of  his  Govern 
ment  was  employed  in  intrigues,  having  for  their  object  a  subversion 
of  our  Government,  and  a  dismemberment  of  our  happy  Union. 

In  reviewing  the  conduct  of  Great  Britain  toward  the  United 
States,  our  attention  is  necessarily  drawn  to  the  warfare,  just 
renewed  by  the  savages,  on  one  of  our  extensive  frontiers  ;  a 
warfare  which  is  known  to  spare  neither  age  nor  sex,  and  to  be 
distinguished  by  features  peculiarly  shocking  to  humanity.  It  is 
difficult  to  account  for  the  activity  and  combinations  which  have 
been  for  some  time  developing  themselves  among  tribes  in  con 
stant  intercourse  with  British  traders  and  garrisons,  without  con 
necting  their  hostility  with  that  influence,  and  without  recollecting 
the  authenticated  examples  of  such  interpositions,  heretofore  fur 
nished  by  the  officers  and  agents  of  that  Government. 

Such  is  the  spectacle  of  injuries  and  indignities  which  have 
been  heaped  on  our  country  ;  and  such  the  crisis  which  its  unex 
ampled  forbearance  and  conciliatory  efforts  have  not  been  able  to 
avert.  It  might  at  least  have  been  expected,  that  an  enlightened 
nation,  if  less  urged  by  moral  obligations,  or  invited  by  friendly 


190  MADISON'S  WAR   MESSAGE  [June  I 

disposition  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  would  have  found,  in 
its  true  interest  alone,  a  sufficient  motive  to  respect  their  rights 
and  their  tranquillity  on  the  high  seas ;  that  an  enlarged  policy 
would  have  favored  that  free  and  general  circulation  of  commerce 
in  which  the  British  nation  is  at  all  times  interested,  and  which,  in 
times  of  war,  is  the  best  alleviation  of  its  calamities  to  herself,  as 
well  as  to  other  belligerents;  and,  more  especially,  that  the 
British  Cabinet  would  not,  for  the  sake  of  a  precarious  and  sur 
reptitious  intercourse  with  hostile  markets,  have  persevered  in  a 
course  of  measures  which  necessarily  put  at  hazard  the  invaluable 
market  of  a  great  and  growing  country,  disposed  to  cultivate  the 
mutual  advantages  of  an  active  commerce. 

Other  councils  have  prevailed.  Our  moderation  and  concilia 
tion  have  had  no  other  effect  than  to  encourage  perseverance  and 
to  enlarge  pretensions.  We  behold  our  sea-faring  citizens  still 
the  daily  victims  of  lawless  violence,  committed  on  the  great  and 
common  highway  of  nations,  even  within  sight  of  the  country 
which  owes  them  protection.  We  behold  our  vessels,  freighted 
with  the  products  of  our  soil  and  industry,  or  returning  with  the 
honest  proceeds  of  them,  wrested  from  their  lawful  destinations, 
confiscated  by  prize  courts,  no  longer  the  organs  of  public  law, 
but  the  instruments  of  arbitrary  edicts,  and  their  unfortunate 
crews  dispersed  and  lost,  or  forced  or  inveigled  in  British  ports 
into  British  fleets,  whilst  arguments  are  employed  in  support  of 
these  aggressions,  which  have  no  foundation  but  in  a  principle 
equally  supporting  a  claim  to  regulate  our  external  commerce  in 
all  cases  whatsoever. 

We  behold,  in  fine,  on  the  side  of  Great  Britain,  a  state  of  war 
against  the  United  States ;  and  on  the  side  of  the  United  States,  a 
state  of  peace  towards  Great  Britain. 

Whether  the  United  States  shall  continue  passive  under  these 
progressive  usurpations,  and  these  accumulating  wrongs,  or,  oppos 
ing  force  to  force  in  defence  of  their  national  rights,  shall  commit 
a  just  cause  into  the  hands  of  the  Almighty  Disposer  of  events, 
avoiding  all  connexions  which  might  entangle  it  in  the  contests  or 
views  of  other  Powers,  and  preserving  a  constant  readiness  to 
concur  in  an  honorable  re-establishment  of  peace  and  friendship, 
is  a  solemn  question,  which  the  Constitution  wisely  confides  to 
the  Legislative  Department  of  the  Government.  In  recommend 
ing  it  to  their  early  deliberations,  I  am  happy  in  the  assurance, 


1812]  DECLARATION   OF  WAR  19  1 

that  the  decision  will  be  worthy  the  enlightened  and  patriotic 
councils  of  a  virtuous,  a  free,  and  a  powerful  nation.  .  .  . 

JAMES  MADISON. 


No.    30.     Declaration  of  War 

June  18,  1812 

MADISON'S  message  of  June  I  was  referred  in  the  House  to  the  committee 
on  Foreign  Relations.  June  3  Calhoun  reported  from  the  committee  a  bill 
declaring  war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.  The  bill  passed 
the  House  the  following  day,  by  a  vote  of  79  to  49,  after  strong  opposition. 
The  bill  with  amendments  was  reported  by  a  select  committee  of  the  Senate 
on  the  8th;  on  the  nth,  by  a  vote  of  17  to  13,  it  was  recommitted.  Several 
amendments  were  reported  on  the  I2th,  but  were  rejected  by  a  tie  vote;  and 
by  vote  of  21  to  n  the  first  report  of  the  committee,  with  amendments,  was 
agreed  to.  Determined  efforts  were  made  to  postpone  or  further  amend  the 
bill,  but  without  success,  and  on  the  I7th  the  bill  passed,  by  a  vote  of  19  to  13. 
On  the  1  8th  the  House  concurred  in  the  Senate  amendments,  and  on  the 
same  day  the  act  was  approved.  A  proclamation  announcing  the  existence 
of  war  was  issued  June  19. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  II.,  755.  For  the  proceed 
ings,  see  the  Plouse  and  Senate  Supplementary  Journals,  I2th  Cong.,  1st  Sess. 
The  discussions  are  reported  briefly  in  the  Annals,  and  in  Benton's  Abridg 
ment,  IV.  Calhoun's  report  is  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Foreign  Relations,  III., 
567-570.  The  Orders  in  Council  were  withdrawn  June  16;  for  the  announce 
ment,  June  23,  see  Anmtal  Register,  1812,  pp.  379-381.  There  is  an  analysis 
by  States  of  the  vote  in  the  House,  June  4,  in  McMaster's  United  States,  III., 
457,  458.  For  the  address  of  the  Federalist  minority  to  their  constituents,  see 
the  Annals,  2196-2221. 

An  Act  declaring  War  between  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  and  the  dependencies  thereof,  and  the 
United  States  of  America  and  their  territories. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  war  be 
and  the  same  is  hereby  declared  to  exist  between  the  United 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  and  the  dependencies 
thereof,  and  the  United  States  of  America  and  their  territories  ; 
and  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  authorized 
to  use  the  whole  land  and  naval  force  of  the  United  States  to 
carry  the  same  into  effect,  and  to  issue  to  private  armed  vessels 
of  the  United  States  commissions  or  letters  of  marque  and  general 
reprisal,  in  such  form  as  he  shall  think  proper,  and  under  the  seal 


1 92  TREATY  OF  GHENT       .  [Dec.  24 

of  the  United  States,  against  the  vessels,  goods,  and  effects  of  the 
government  of  the  said  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  and  the  subjects  thereof. 


No.    31.     Treaty  of  Ghent 

December  24,  1814 

THE  offer  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia  to  mediate  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States  was  accepted  by  the  latter,  and  on  April  15,  1813,  instruc 
tions  were  issued  to  commissioners.  Great  Britain,  however,  declined  the  offer 
of  mediation,  and  suggested  direct  negotiation;  the  suggestion  was  accepted, 
additional  commissioners  were  appointed,  and  new  instructions  issued  Jan.  28, 
1814.  The  commissioners  held  their  first  conference  at  Ghent  July  II.  The 
treaty  was  concluded  Dec.  24;  Feb.  17,  1815,  ratifications  were  exchanged 
at  Washington.  The  conclusion  of  the  treaty  was  announced  to  Congress 
Feb.  20. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  the  District  of  Columbia, 
etc.  (ed.  1875),  287-292.  The  diplomatic  correspondence  is  in  Amer.  State 
Papers,  Foreign  Relations,  III.,  695-748;  IV.,  808-811.  For  dispatches  and 
instructions  of  the  British  commissioners,  see  the  Castlereagh  Correspondence, 
series  III.,  vol.  II.  The  diary  of  J.  Q.  Adams  during  the  negotiations  is  in  his 
Memoirs,  II.,  603-662;  III.,  3-144.  Clay's  letters  are  in  Colton's  Private 
Correspondence  of  Henry  Clay,  24—44;  Gallatin's,  in  Adams's  Writings  of 
Gallatin,  I.,  545-647.  See  also  Adams's  United  States,  IX.,  chaps,  i,  2; 
Adams's  Gallatin,  493-547;  Treaties  and  Conventions  (ed.  1889),  1326- 
1328,  notes  on  the  treaty  by  J.  C.  B.  Davis. 

His  Britannic  Majesty  and  the  United  States  of  America, 
desirous  of  terminating  the  war  which  has  unhappily  subsisted 
between  the  two  countries,  and  of  restoring,  upon  principles  of 
perfect  reciprocity,  peace,  friendship,  and  good  understanding 
between  them,  have,  for  that  purpose,  appointed  their  respective 
Plenipotentiaries,  that  is  to  say : 

His  Britannic  Majesty,  on  his  part,  has  appointed  the  Right 
Honourable  James  Lord  Gambier,  late  Admiral  of  the  White, 
now  Admiral  of  the  Red  Squadron  of  His  Majesty's  fleet,  Henry 
Goulburn,  Esquire,  a  member  of  the  Imperial  Parliament,  and 
Under  Secretary  of  State,  and  William  Adams,  Esquire,  Doctor 
of  Civil  Laws;  and  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  thereof,  has  appointed 
John  Quincy  Adams,  James  A.  Bayard,  Henry  Clay,  Jonathan 
Russell,  and  Albert  Gallatin,  citizens  of  the  United  States; 


1 8 14]  TREATY   OF  GHENT  1 93 

Who,  after  a  reciprocal  communication  of  their  respective  full 
powers,  have  agreed  upon  the  following  articles: 

ARTICLE  I. 

There  shall  be  a  firm  and  universal  peace  between  His  Britan 
nic  Majesty  and  the  United  States,  and  between  their  respective 
countries,  territories,  cities,  towns,  and  people,  of  every  degree, 
without  exception  of  places  or  persons.  All  hostilities,  both  by 
sea  and  land,  shall  cease  as  soon  as  this  treaty  shall  have  been 
ratified  by  both  parties,  as  hereinafter  mentioned.  All  territory, 
places,  and  possessions  whatsoever,  taken  by  either  party  from 
the  other  during  the  war,  or  which  may  be  taken  after  the  sign 
ing  of  this  treaty,  excepting  only  the  islands  hereinafter  men 
tioned,  shall  be  restored  without  delay,  and  without  causing  any 
destruction  or  carrying  away  any  of  the  artillery  or  other  public 
property  originally  captured  in  the  said  forts  or  places,  and  which 
shall  remain  therein  upon  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  this 
treaty,  or  any  slaves  or  other  private  property.  And  all  archives, 
records,  deeds,  and  papers,  either  of  a  public  nature  or  belong 
ing  to  private  persons,  which,  in  the  course  of  the  war,  may  have 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  officers  of  either  party,  shall  be,  as 
far  as  may  be  practicable,  forthwith  restored  and  delivered  to 
the  proper  authorities  and  persons  to  whom  they  respectively 
belong.  Such  of  the  islands  in  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  as  are 
claimed  by  both  parties,  shall  remain  in  the  possession  of  the 
party  in  whose  occupation  they  may  be  at  the  time  of  the  exchange 
of  the  ratifications  of  this  treaty,  until  the  decision  respecting  the 
title  to  the  said  islands  shall  have  been  made  in  conformity  with 
the  fourth  article  of  this  treaty.  No  disposition  made  by  this 
treaty  as  to  such  possession  of  the  islands  and  territories  claimed 
by  both  parties  shall,  in  any  manner  whatever,  be  construed  to 
affect  the  right  of  either. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Immediately  after  the  ratifications  of  this  treaty  by  both  par 
ties,  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  orders  shall  be  sent  to  the  armies, 
squadrons,  officers,  subjects  and  citizens  of  the  two  Powers  to 
cease  from  all  hostilities.  And  to  prevent  all  causes  of  com 
plaint  which  might  arise  on  account  of  the  prizes  which  may  be 
taken  at  sea  after  the  said  ratifications  of  this  treaty,  it  is  recip- 


194  TREATY   OF  GHENT  [Dec.  24 

rocally  agreed  that  all  vessels  and  effects  which  may  be  taken 
after  the  space  of  twelve  days  from  the  said  ratifications,  upon 
all  parts  of  the  coast  of  North  America,  from  the  latitude  of 
twenty-three  degrees  north  to  the  latitude  of  fifty  degrees  north, 
and  as  far  eastward  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  as  the  thirty-sixth 
degree  of  west  longitude  from  the  meridian  of  Greenwich,  shall 
be  restored  on  each  side :  that  the  time  shall  be  thirty  days  in 
all  other  parts  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  north  of  the  equinoctial 
line  or  equator,  and  the  same  time  for  the  British  and  Irish 
Channels,  for  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  all  parts  of  the  West 
Indies;  forty  days  for  the  North  Seas,  for  the  Baltic,  and  for  all 
parts  of  the  Mediterranean;  sixty  days  for  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
south  of  the  equator,  as  far  as  the  latitude  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope;  ninety  days  for  every  other  part  of  the  world  south  of  the 
equator;  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  days  for  all  other  parts  of 
the  world,  without  exception. 

ARTICLE  III. 

All  prisoners  of  war  taken  on  either  side,  as  well  by  land  as 
by  sea,  shall  be  restored  as  soon  as  practicable  after  the  ratifica 
tions  of  this  treaty,  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  on  their  paying 
the  debts  which  they  may  have  contracted  during  their  captivity. 
The  two  contracting  parties  respectively  engage  to  discharge,  in 
specie,  the  advances  which  may  have  been  made  by  the  other  for 
the  sustenance  and  maintenance  of  such  prisoners. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Whereas  it  was  stipulated  by  the  second  article  in  the  treaty 
of  peace  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three,  between 
His  Britannic  Majesty  and  the  United  States  of  America,  that  the 
boundary  of  the  United  States  should  comprehend  all  islands 
within  twenty  leagues  of  any  part  of  the  shores  of  the  United 
States,  and  lying  between  lines  to  be  drawn  due  east  from  the 
points  where  the  aforesaid  boundaries,  between  Nova  Scotia  on 
the  one  part,  and  East  Florida  on  the  other,  shall  respectively 
touch  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  excepting 
such  islands  as  now  are,  or  heretofore  have  been,  within  the 
limits  of  Nova  Scotia;  and  whereas  the  several  islands  in  the 
Bay  of  Passamaquoddy,  which  is  part  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and 
the  Island  of  Grand  Menan,  in  the  said  Bay  of  Fundy,  are 


1814]  TREATY  OF  GHENT  195 

claimed  by  the  United  States  as  being  comprehended  within 
their  aforesaid  boundaries,  which  said  islands  are  claimed  as 
belonging  to  His  Britannic  Majesty,  as  having  been,  at  the  time 
of  and  previous  to  the  aforesaid  treaty  of  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  eighty-three,  within  the  limits  of  the  Province  of 
Nova  Scotia:  In  order,  therefore,  finally  to  decide  upon  these 
claims,  it  is  agreed  that  they  shall  be  referred  to  two  Commis 
sioners  to  be  appointed  in  the  following  manner,  viz :  One  Com 
missioner  shall  be  appointed  by  His  Britannic  Majesty,  and  one 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate  thereof;  and  the  said  two  Commis 
sioners  so  appointed  shall  be  sworn  impartially  to  examine  and 
decide  upon  the  said  claims  according  to  such  evidence  as  shall 
be  laid  before  them  on  the  part  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  and  of 
the  United  States  respectively.  [The  commissioners  to  meet  at 
St.  Andrews,  N.  B.  In  case  of  disagreement,  the  matter  to  be 
referred  to  the  decision  of  some  friendly  Power.*] 

ARTICLE  V. 

Whereas  neither  that  point  of  the  highlands  lying  due  north 
from  the  source  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  and  designated  in  the 
former  treaty  of  peace  between  the  two  Powers  as  the  northwest 
angle  of  Nova  Scotia,  nor  the  northwesternmost  head  of  Con 
necticut  River,  has  yet  been  ascertained;  and  whereas  that  part 
of  the  boundary  line  between  the  dominions  of  the  two  Powers 
which  extends  from  the  source  of  the  river  St.  Croix  directly 
north  to  the  abovementioned  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia, 
thence  along  the  said  highlands  which  divide  those  rivers  that 
empty  themselves  into  the  river  St.  Lawrence  from  those  which 
fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  northwesternmost  head  of 
Connecticut  River,  thence  down  along  the  middle  of  that  river 
to  the  forty-fifth  degree  of  north  latitude;  thence  by  a  line  due 
west  on  said  latitude  until  it  strikes  the  river  Iroquois  or  Catara- 
quy,  has  not  yet  been  surveyed :  it  is  agreed  that  for  these  several 
purposes  two  Commissioners  shall  be  appointed,  sworn,  and 
authorized  to  act  exactly  in  the  manner  directed  with  respect  to 
those  mentioned  in  the  next  preceding  article,  unless  otherwise 

*  For  the  declaration  and  decision  of  the  commissioners  under  this  article, 
Nov.  24,  1817,  see  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia,  etc.  (ed.  1875), 
296,  297 ;  Treaties  and  Conventions  (ed.  1889),  405,  406. —  ED. 


196  TREATY   OF  GHENT  [Dec.  24 

specified  in  the  present  article.  [The  commissioners  to  meet  at 
St.  Andrews,  N.  B.  Boundary  to  be  surveyed  and  marked.  In 
case  of  disagreement,  the  matter  to  be  referred  to  the  decision 
of  some  friendly  Power,  as  in  Art.  IV.] 

ARTICLE  VI. 

Whereas  by  the  former  treaty  of  peace  that  portion  of  the 
boundary  of  the  United  States  from  the  point  where  the  forty- 
fifth  degree  of  north  latitude  strikes  the  river  Iroquois  or  Catara- 
quy  to  the  Lake  Superior,  was  declared  to  be  "  along  the  middle 
of  said  river  into  Lake  Ontario,  through  the  middle  of  said  lake, 
until  it  strikes  the  communication  by  water  between  that  lake  and 
Lake  Erie,  thence  along  the  middle  of  said  communication  into 
Lake  Erie,  through  the  middle  of  said  lake  until  it  arrives  at  the 
water  communication  into  the  Lake  Huron,  thence  through  the 
middle  of  said  lake  to  the  water  communication  between  that 
lake  and  Lake  Superior;  "  and  whereas  doubts  have  arisen  what 
was  the  middle  of  the  said  river,  lakes,  and  water  communica 
tions,  and  whether  certain  islands  lying  in  the  same  were  within 
the  dominions  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  or  of.  the  United  States: 
In  order,  therefore,  finally  to  decide  these  doubts,  they  shall  be 
referred  to  two  Commissioners,  to  be  appointed,  sworn,  and 
authorized  to  act  exactly  in  the  manner  directed  with  respect 
to  those  mentioned  in  the  next  preceding  article,  unless  other 
wise  specified  in  this  present  article.  [The  commissioners  to 
meet  at  Albany.  Boundary  to  be  designated.  In  case  of  dis 
agreement,  the  matter  to  be  referred  to  the  decision  of  some 
friendly  Power,  as  in  Art.  IV.*] 

ARTICLE  VII. 

.  [The  commissioners  provided  for  in  Art.  VI.  to  determine  the 
boundary  between  Lakes  Huron  and  Superior  and  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods.  In  case  of  disagreement,  the  matter  to  be  referred  to 
the  decision  of  some  friendly  Power,  as  in  Art.  IV.] 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

[Commissioners  may  employ  a  secretary,  &c.  Grants  of  land 
by  either  party  prior  to  the  war  not  to  be  invalidated  by  any  deci 
sion  of  the  commissioners.] 

*  For  the  decision  of  the  commissioners  under  this  article,  June  22,  1822,  see 
Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia  (ed.  1875),  300-302;  Treaties  and 
Conventions  (ed.  1889),  407-409.  —  ED. 


1814]  TREATY   OF   GHENT  197 

ARTICLE  IX. 

The  United  States  of  America  engage  to  put  an  end,  immedi 
ately  after  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty,  to  hostilities  with 
all  the  tribes  or  nations  of  Indians  with  whom  they  may  be  at  war 
at  the  time  of  such  ratification;  and  forthwith  to  restore  to  such 
tribes  or  nations,  respectively,  all  the  possessions,  rights,  and 
privileges  which  they  may  have  enjoyed  or  been  entitled  to  in 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eleven,  previous  to  such  hostili 
ties:  Provided  always  that  such  tribes  or  nations  shall  agree  to 
desist  from  all  hostilities  against  the  United  States  of  America, 
their  citizens  and  subjects,  upon  the  ratification  of  the  present 
treaty  being  notified  to  such  tribes  or  nations,  and  shall  so  desist 
accordingly.  And  His  Britannic  Majesty  engages,  on  his  part, 
to  put  an  end  immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the  present 
treaty,  to  hostilities  with  all  the  tribes  or  nations  of  Indians 
with  whom  he  may  be  at  war  at  the  time  of  such  ratification,  and 
forthwith  to  restore  to  such  tribes  or  nations  respectively  all  the 
possessions,  rights,  and  privileges  which  they  may  have  enjoyed 
or  been  entitled  to  in  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eleven, 
previous  to  such  hostilities :  Provided  always  that  such  tribes  or 
nations  shall  agree  to  desist  from  all  hostilities  against  His  Bri 
tannic  Majesty,  and  his  subjects,  upon  the  ratification  of  the 
present  treaty  being  notified  to  such  tribes  or  nations,  and  shall 
so  desist  accordingly. 

ARTICLE  X. 

Whereas  the  traffic  in  slaves  is  irreconcileable  with  the  prin 
ciples  of  humanity  and  justice,  and  whereas  both  His  Majesty 
and  the  United  States  are  desirous  of  continuing  their  efforts  to 
promote  its  entire  abolition,  it  is  hereby  agreed  that  both  the 
contracting  parties  shall  use  their  best  endeavours  to  accomplish 
so  desirable  an  object. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

This  treaty,  when  the  same  shall  have  been  ratified  on  both 
sides,  without  alteration  by  either  of  the  contracting  parties,  and 
the  ratifications  mutually  exchanged,  shall  be  binding  on  both 
parties,  and  the  ratifications  shall  be  exchanged  at  Washington, 
in  the  space  of  four  months  from  this  day,  or  sooner  if  practi 
cable. 


198  REPORT  OF  THE   HARTFORD  CONVENTION        [Jan.  4 

In  faith  whereof  we,  the  respective  Plenipotentiaries,  have 
signed  this  treaty,  and  have  thereunto  affixed  our  seals. 

Done,  in  triplicate,  at  Ghent,  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  Decem 
ber,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fourteen. 

GAMBIER.  [L.S.] 

HENRY  GOULBURN.  [L.S.] 

WILLIAM  ADAMS.  [L.S.] 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  [L.S.] 

J.  A.  BAYARD.  [L.S.] 

H.  CLAY.  [L.S.] 

JONA.  RUSSELL.  [L.S.] 

ALBERT  GALLATIN.  [L.S.] 


No.    32.     Report   of  the    Hartford    Convention 

January  4,  1815 

EARLY  in  1814  many  towns  in  Massachusetts  presented  memorials  to  the 
legislature,  setting  forth  the  dangers  to  which  the  war  with  Great  Britain  ex 
posed  them,  and  suggesting  the  appointment  of  delegates,  "  to  meet  delegates 
from  such  other  States  as  might  think  proper  to  appoint  them,  for  the  purpose 
of  devising  proper  measures  to  procure  the  united  efforts  of  the  commercial 
states,  to  obtain  such  amendments  and  explanations  of  the  constitution  as  will 
secure  them  from  further  evils"  (Dwight).  The  matter  was  favorably  con 
sidered  by  the  legislature,  and  Oct.  18  twelve  delegates  were  elected  in  a  joint 
session  of  the  two  houses,  by  a  vote  of  226  to  67.  The  action  of  Massachu 
setts  was  followed  by  the  election  of  seven  delegates  by  the  legislature  of  Con 
necticut,  which  already  had  under  consideration  suggestions  of  a  similar 
nature,  and  of  four  delegates  by  the  legislature  of  Rhode  Island.  The  dele 
gates  thus  chosen,  together  with  two  from  New  Hampshire  and  one  from 
Vermont,  representing  local  conventions  in  those  States,  met  at  Hartford  Dec. 
15,  and  remained  in  session  until  Jan.  5,  1815.  The  proceedings  of  the 
convention  were  secret,  but  the  report,  from  which  an  extract  follows,  was 
published  and  widely  circulated.  The  legislatures  of  Massachusetts  and  Con 
necticut  sent  commissioners  to  Washington  to  urge  the  submission  of  the 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  suggested  by  the  convention;  but  the  war 
had  ended  before  they  arrived,  and  their  recommendations  were  disregarded. 
The  injunction  of  secrecy  laid  upon  the  members  of  the  convention,  and  the 
failure  to  make  public  the  journal,  led  to  the  impression  that  the  proceedings 
were  of  a  treasonable  nature,  and  had  in  view  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  D wight's  History  of  the  Hartford  Convention 
(ed.  1833),  352-379;  the  extract  here  given  is  on  pp.  368-379.  The  report 
is  also  in  Niles's  Register,  VII.,  305-313,  where  are  also,  pp.  328-332,  com- 


1815]  HARTFORD   CONVENTION  199 

mercial  and  financial  statistics  published  by  order  of  the  convention.  The 
journal  is  also  in  Dwight,  op.  cit.,  383-398.  R.  M.  Sherman's  account  of  the 
convention  is  in  Niles's  Register,  XXXIX.,  434,  435;  see  also  ib.,  VII.,  185- 
189,  193-197,  257,  258,  321-326,  337,  338,  369-371,  a  series  of  articles  hostile 
to  the  convention.  The  best  recent  accounts  are  in  Adams's  United  States, 
VIII. ,  chap.  II, and  Lodge's  George  Cabot,  chaps.  11-13;  see  further,  Johnston, 
in  Lator's  Cyclopedia,  I.,  624-626;  Barry's  Massachusetts,  III.,  407-422;  and 
articles  in  New  Englander,  XXXVIL,  145-159,  and  New  Engl.  Mag.,  VI., 
181-193  (March,  1834). 

[After  severe  general  criticism  of  the  Administration,  and  of 
the  policy  by  which  "  this  remote  country,  once  so  happy  and  so 
envied,"  is  now  "  involved  in  a  ruinous  war,  and  excluded  from 
intercourse  with  the  rest  of  the  world,"  the  report  continues  :] 

To  investigate  and  explain  the  means  whereby  this  fatal  reverse 
has  been  effected,  would  require  a  voluminous  discussion.  Nothing 
more  can  be  attempted  in  this  report  than  a  general  allusion  to 
the  principal  outlines  of  the  policy  which  has  produced  this  vicis 
situde.  Among  these  may  be  enumerated  — 

First  —  A  deliberate  and  extensive  system  for  effecting  a  com 
bination  among  certain  states,  by  exciting  local  jealousies  and 
ambition,  so  as  to  secure  to  popular  leaders  in  one  section  of  the 
Union,  the  controul  of  public  affairs  in  perpetual  succession.  To 
which  primary  object  most  other  characteristics  of  the  system  may 
be  reconciled. 

Secondly.  —  The  political  intolerance  displayed  and  avowed  in 
excluding  from  office  men  of  unexceptionable  merit,  for  want  of 
adherence  to  the  executive  creed. 

Thirdly.  —  The  infraction  of  the  judiciary  authority  and  rights, 
by  depriving  judges  of  their  offices  in  violation  of  the  constitu 
tion. 

Fourthly. — The  abolition  of  existing  taxes,  requisite  to  prepare 
the  country  for  those  changes  to  which  nations  are  always  ex 
posed,  with  a  view  to  the  acquisition  of  popular  favour. 

Fifthly.  —  The  influence  of  patronage  in  the  distribution  of 
offices,  which  in  these  states  has  been  almost  invariably  made 
among  men  the  least  entitled  to  such  distinction,  and  who  have 
sold  themselves  as  ready  instruments  for  distracting  public  opin 
ion,  and  encouraging  administration  to  hold  in  contempt  the 
wishes  and  remonstrances  of  a  people  thus  apparently  divided. 

Sixthly.  —  The  admission  of  new  states  into  the  Union  formed 
at  pleasure  in  the  western  region,  has  destroyed  the  balance  of 


200  HARTFORD   CONVENTION  [Jan.  4 

power  which  existed  among  the  original  States,  and  deeply  affected 
their  interest. 

Seventhly.  —  The  easy  admission  of  naturalized   foreigners,  to 

places  of  trust,  honour  or  profit,  operating  as  an  inducement  to 

the  malcontent  subjects  of  the  old  world  to  come  to  these  States, 

•  in  quest  of  executive   patronage,  and  to  repay  it  by  an  abject 

devotion  to  executive  measures. 

Eighthly.  —  Hostility  to  Great  Britain,  and  partiality  to  the  late 
government  of  France,  adopted  as  coincident  with  popular  preju 
dice,  and  subservient  to  the  main  object,  party  power.  Connected 
with  these  must  be  ranked  erroneous  and  distorted  estimates  of 
the  power  and  resources  of  those  nations,  of  the  probable  results 
of  their  controversies,  and  of  our  political  relations  to  them 
respectively. 

Lastly  and  principally.  —  A  visionary  and  superficial  theory  in 
regard  to  commerce,  accompanied  by  a  real  hatred  but  a  feigned 
regard  to  its  interests,  and  a  ruinous  perseverance  in  efforts  to 
render  it  an  instrument  of  coercion  and  war. 

But  it  is  not  conceivable  that  the  obliquity  of  any  administration 
could,  in  so  short  a  period,  have  so  nearly  consummated  the  work 
of  national  ruin,  unless  favoured  by  defects  in  the  constitution. 

To  enumerate  all  the  improvements  of  which  that  instrument  is 
susceptible,  and  to  propose  such  amendments  as  might  render  it 
in  all  respects  perfect,  would  be  a  task  which  this  convention  has 
not  thought  proper  to  assume.  They  have  confined  their  attention 
to  such  as  experience  has  demonstrated  to  be  essential,  and  even 
among  these,  some  are  considered  entitled  to  a  more  serious  atten 
tion  than  others.  They  are  suggested  without  any  intentional  dis 
respect  to  other  states,  and  are  meant  to  be  such  as  all  shall  find 
an  interest  in  promoting.  Their  object  is  to  strengthen,  and  if 
possible  to  perpetuate,  the  union  of  the  states,  by  removing  the 
grounds  of  existing  jealousies,  and  providing  for  a  fair  and  equal 
representation,  and  a  limitation  of  powers,  which  have  been 
misused. 

The  first  amendment  proposed,  relates  to  the  apportionment  of 
representatives  among  the  slave  holding  states.  This  cannot  be 
claimed  as  a  right.  Those  states  are  entitled  to  the  slave  repre 
sentation,  by  a  constitutional  compact.  It  is  therefore  merely  a 
subject  of  agreement,  which  should  be  conducted  upon  principles 
of  mutual  interest  and  accommodation,  and  upon  which  no  sensi- 


1815]  HARTFORD   CONVENTION  2OI 

bility  on  either  side  should  be  permitted  to  exist.  It  has  proved 
unjust  and  unequal  in  its  operation.  Had  this  effect  been  fore 
seen,  the  privilege  would  probably  not  have  been  demanded ; 
certainly  not  conceded.  Its  tendency  in  future  will  be  adverse  to 
that  harmony  and  mutual  confidence  which  are  more  conducive 
to  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  every  confederated  state,  than 
a  mere  preponderance  of  power,  the  prolific  source  of  jealousies 
and  controversy,  can  be  to  any  one  of  them.  The  time  may 
therefore  arrive,  when  a  sense  of  magnanimity  and  justice  will 
reconcile  those  states  to  acquiesce  in  a  revision  of  this  article, 
especially  as  a  fair  equivalent  would  result  to  them  in  the  appor 
tionment  of  taxes. 

The  next  amendment  relates  to  the  admission  of  new  states  into 
the  Union. 

This  amendment  is  deemed  to  be  highly  important,  and  in  fact 
indispensable.  In  proposing  it,  it  is  not  intended  to  recognize 
the  right  of  Congress  to  admit  new  states  without  the  original 
limits  of  the  United  States,  nor  is  any  idea  entertained  of  disturb 
ing  the  tranquillity  of  any  state  already  admitted  into  the  Union. 
The  object  is  merely  to  restrain  the  constitutional  power  of  Con 
gress  in  admitting  new  states.  At  the  adoption  of  the  constitution, 
a  certain  balance  of  power  among  the  original  parties  was  consid 
ered  to  exist,  and  there  was  at  that  time,  and  yet  is  amcng  those 
parties,  a  strong  affinity  between  their  great  and  general  interests. 
—  By  the  admission  of  these  states  that  balance  has  been  materi 
ally  affected,  and  unless  the  practice  be  modified,  must  ultimately 
be  destroyed.  The  southern  states  will  first  avail  themselves  of 
their  new  confederates  to  govern  the  east,  and  finally  the  western 
states,  multiplied  in  number,  and  augmented  in  population,  will 
control  the  interests  of  the  whole.  Thus  for  the  sake  of  present 
power,  the  southern  states  will  be  common  sufferers  with  the  east, 
in  the  loss  of  permanent  advantages.  None  of  the  old  states  can' 
find  an  interest  in  creating  prematurely  an  overwhelming  western 
influence,  which  may  hereafter  discern  (as  it  has  heretofore)  bene 
fits  to  be  derived  to  them  by  wars  and  commercial  restrictions. 

The  next  amendments  proposed  by  the  convention,  relate  to 
the  powers  of  Congress,  in  relation  to  embargo  and  the  interdic 
tion  of  commerce. 

Whatever  theories  upon  the  subject  of  commerce  have  hitherto 
divided  the  opinions  of  statesmen,  experience  has  at  last  shown 


2O2  HARTFORD   CONVENTION  [Jan.  4 

that  it  is  a  vital  interest  in  the  United  States,  and  that  its  success 
is  essential  to  the  encouragement  of  agriculture  and  manufactures, 
and  to  the  wealth,  finances,  defence,  and  liberty  of  the  nation, 
Its  welfare  can  never  interfere  with  the  other  great  interests  of  the 
state,  but  must  promote  and  uphold  them.  Still  those  who  are 
immediately  concerned  in  the  prosecution  of  commerce,  will  of 
necessity  be  always  a  minority  of  the  nation.  They  are,  however, 
best  qualified  to  manage  and  direct  its  course  by  the  advantages 
of  experience,  and  the  sense  of  interest.  But  they  are  entirely 
unable  to  protect  themselves  against  the  sudden  and  injudicious 
decisions  of  bare  majorities,  and  the  mistaken  or  oppressive  proj 
ects  of  those  who  are  not  actively  concerned  in  its  pursuits.  -Of 
consequence,  this  interest  is  always  exposed  to  be  harassed,  inter 
rupted,  and  entirely  destroyed,  upon  pretence  of  securing  other 
interests.  Had  the  merchants  of  this  nation  been  permitted  by 
their  own  government  to  pursue  an  innocent  and  lawful  commerce, 
how  different  would  have  been  the  state  of  the  treasury  and  of 
public  credit !  How  short-sighted  and  miserable  is  the  policy 
which  has  annihilated  this  order  of  men,  and  doomed  their  ships 
to  rot  in  the  docks,  their  capital  to  waste  unemployed,  and  their 
affections  to  be  alienated  from  the  government  which  was  formed 
to  protect  them  !  What  security  for  an  ample  and  unfailing  reve 
nue  can  ever  be  had,  comparable  to  that  which  once  was  realized 
in  the  good  faith,  punctuality,  and  sense  of  honour,  which  attached 
the  mercantile  class  to  the  interests  of  the  government !  Without 
commerce,  where  can  be  found  the  aliment  for  a  navy ;  and  with 
out  a  navy,  what  is  to  constitute  the  defence,  and  ornament,  and 
glory  of  this  nation  !  No  union  can  be  durably  cemented,  in 
which  every  great  interest  does  not  find  itself  reasonably  secured 
against  the  encroachment  and  combinations  of  other  interests. 
When,  therefore,  the  past  system  of  embargoes  and  commercial 
restrictions  shall  have  been  reviewed  —  when  the  fluctuation  and 
inconsistency  of  public  measures,  betraying  a  want  of  information 
as  well  as  feeling  in  the  majority,  shall  have  been  considered,  the 
reasonableness  of  some  restrictions  upon  the  power  of  a  bare 
majority  to  repeat  these  oppressions,  will  appear  to  be  obvious. 

The  next  amendment  proposes  to  restrict  the  power  of  making 
offensive  war.  In  the  consideration  of  this  amendment,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  inquire  into  the  justice  of  the  present  war.  But  one 
sentiment  now  exists  in  relation  to  its  expediency,  and  regret  for 


1815]  HARTFORD   CONVENTION  203 

its  declaration  is  nearly  universal.  No  indemnity  can  ever  be 
attained  for  this  terrible  calamity,  and  its  only  palliation  must  be 
found  in  obstacles  to  its  future  recurrence.  Rarely  can  the  state 
of  this  country  call  for  or  justify  offensive  war.  The  genius  of 
our  institutions  is  unfavourable  to  its  successful  prosecution ;  the 
felicity  of  our  situation  exempts  us  from  its  necessity.  In  this 
case,  as  in  the  former,  those  more  immediately  exposed  to  its 
fatal  effects  are  a  minority  of  the  nation.  The  commercial  towns, 
the  shores  of  our  seas  and  rivers,  contain  the  population  whose 
vital  interests  are  most  vulnerable  by  a  foreign  enemy.  Agricult 
ure,  indeed,  must  feel  at  last,  but  this  appeal  to  its  sensibility 
comes  too  late.  Again,  the  immense  population  which  has 
swarmed  into  the  west,  remote  from  immediate  danger,  and  which 
is  constantly  augmenting,  will  not  be  averse  from  the  occasional 
disturbances  of  the  Atlantic  states.  Thus  interest  may  not  unfre- 
quently  combine  with  passion  and  intrigue,  to  plunge  the  nation 
into  needless  wars,  and  compel  it  to  become  a  military,  rather 
than  a  happy  and  nourishing  people.  These  considerations,  which 
it  would  be  easy  to  augment,  call  loudly  for  the  limitation  pro 
posed  in  the  amendment. 

Another  amendment,  subordinate  in  importance,  but  still  in  a 
high  degree  expedient,  relates  to  the  exclusion  of  foreigners  here 
after  arriving  in  the  United  States  from  the  capacity  of  holding 
offices  of  trust,  honour,  or  profit. 

That  the  stock  of  population  already  in  these  states  is  amply 
sufficient  to  render  this  nation  in  due  time  sufficiently  great  and 
powerful,  is  not  a  controvertible  question.  Nor  will  it  be  seriously 
pretended,  that  the  national  deficiency  in  wisdom,  arts,  science, 
arms,  or  virtue,  needs  to  be  replenished  from  foreign  countries. 
Still,  it  is  agreed,  that  a  liberal  policy  should  offer  the  rights  of 
hospitality,  and  the  choice  of  settlement,  to  those  who  are  disposed 
to  visit  the  country.  But  why  admit  to  a  participation  in  the 
government  aliens  who  were  no  parties  to  the  compact  —  who  are 
ignorant  of  the  nature  of  our  institutions,  and  have  no  stake  in 
the  welfare  of  the  country  but  what  is  recent  and  transitory?  It 
is  surely  a  privilege  sufficient,  to  admit  them  after  due  probation 
to  become  citizens,  for  all  but  political  purposes.  To  extend  it 
beyond  these  limits,  is  to  encourage  foreigners  to  come  to  these 
sta'tes  as  candidates  for  preferment.  The  Convention  forbear  to 
express  their  opinion  upon  the  inauspicious  effects  which  have 


204  HARTFORD   CONVENTION  [Jan.  4 

already  resulted  to  the  honour  and  peace  of  this  nation,  from  this 
misplaced  and  indiscriminate  liberality. 

The  last  amendment  respects  the  limitation  of  the  office  of 
President  to  a  single  constitutional  term,  and  his  eligibility  from 
the  same  state  two  terms  in  succession. 

Upon  this  topic  it  is  superfluous  to  dilate.  The  love  of  power 
is  a  principle  in  the  human  heart  which  too  often  impels  to  the 
use  of  all  practicable  means  to  prolong  its  duration.  The  office 
of  President  has  charms  and  attractions  which  operate  as  power 
ful  incentives  to  this  passion.  The  first  and  most  natural  exertion 
of  a  vast  patronage  is  directed  towards  the  security  of  a  new  elec 
tion.  The  interest  of  the  country,  the  welfare  of  the  people,  even 
honest  fame  and  respect  for  the  opinion  of  posterity,  are  secondary 
considerations.  All  the  engines  of  intrigue,  all  the  means  of  cor 
ruption  are  likely  to  be  employed  for  this  object.  A  President 
whose  political  career  is  limited  to  a  single  election,  may  find  no 
other  interest  than  will  be  promoted  by  making  it  glorious  to  him 
self,  and  beneficial  to  his  country.  But  the  hope  of  re-election  is 
prolific  of  temptations,  under  which  these  magnanimous  motives 
are  deprived  of  their  principal  force.  The  repeated  election  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States  from  any  one  state,  affords 
inducements  and  means  for  intrigues,  which  tend  to  create  an 
undue  local  influence,  and  to  establish  the  domination  of  particu 
lar  states.  The  justice,  therefore,  of  securing  to  every  state  a  fair 
and  equal  chance  for  the  election  of  this  officer  from  its  own 
citizens  is  apparent,  and  this  object  will  be  essentially  promoted 
by  preventing  an  election  from  the  same  state  twice  in  succession. 

Such  is  the  general  view  which  this  Convention  has  thought 
proper  to  submit,  of  the  situation  of  these  states,  of  their  dangers 
and  their  duties.  Most  of  the  subjects  which  it  embraces  have 
separately  received  an  ample  and  luminous  investigation,  by  the 
great  and  able  assertors  of  the  rights  of  their  country,  in  the 
national  legislature ;  and  nothing  more  could  be  attempted  on 
this  occasion  than  a  digest  of  general  principles,  and  of  recom 
mendations  suited  to  the  present  state  of  public  affairs.  The 
peculiar  difficulty  and  delicacy  of  performing  even  this  under 
taking,  will  be  appreciated  by  all  who  think  seriously  upon  the 
crisis.  Negotiations  for  peace  are  at  this  hour  supposed  to  be 
pending,  the  issue  of  which  must  be  deeply  interesting  to  all.  No 
measures  should  be  adopted  which  might  unfavourably  affect  that 


1815]  HARTFORD   CONVENTION  2O5 

issue ;  none  which  should  embarrass  the  administration,  if  their 
professed  desire  for  peace  is  sincere ;  and  none  which  on  suppo 
sition  of  their  insincerity,  should  afford  them  pretexts  for  prolong 
ing  the  war,  or  relieving  themselves  from  the  responsibility  of  a 
dishonourable  peace.  It  is  also  devoutly  to  be  wished,  that  an 
occasion  may  be  afforded  to  all  friends  of  the  country,  of  all 
parties,  and  in  all  places,  to  pause  and  consider  the  awful  state  to 
which  pernicious  counsels  and  blind  passions  have  brought  this 
people.  The  number  of  those  who  perceive,  and  who  are  ready 
to  retrace  errors,  must,  it  is  believed,  be  yet  sufficient  to  redeem 
the  nation.  It  is  necessary  to  rally  and  unite  them  by  the  assur 
ance  that  no  hostility  to  the  constitution  is  meditated,  and  to 
obtain  their  aid  in  placing  it  under  guardians  who  alone  can  save 
it  from  destruction.  Should  this  fortunate  change  be  effected, 
the  hope  of  happiness  and  honour  may  once  more  dispel  the 
surrounding  gloom.  Our  nation  may  yet  be  great,  our  union 
durable.  But  should  this  prospect  be  utterly  hopeless,  the  time 
will  not  have  been  lost  which  shall  have  ripened  a  general  senti 
ment  of  the  necessity  of  more  mighty  efforts  to  rescue  from  ruin, 
at  least  some  portion  of  our  beloved  country. 

THEREFORE  RESOLVED, 

That  it  be  and  hereby  is  recommended  to  the  legislatures  of 
the  several  states  represented  in  this  Convention,  to  adopt  all  such 
measures  as  may  be  necessary  effectually  to  protect  the  citizens  of 
said  states  from  the  operation  and  effects  of  all  acts  which  have 
been  or  may  be  passed  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
which  shall  contain  provisions,  subjecting  the  militia  or  other  citi 
zens  to  forcible  drafts,  conscriptions,  or  impressments,  not  author 
ised  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  and  hereby  is  recommended  to  the  said 
Legislatures,  to  authorize  an  immediate  and  earnest  application 
to  be  made  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  requesting 
their  consent  to  some  arrangement,  whereby  the  said  states  may, 
separately  or  in  concert,  be  empowered  to  assume  upon  them 
selves  the  defence  of  their  territory  against  the  enemy ;  and  a 
reasonable  portion  of  the  taxes,  collected  within  said  States,  may 
be  paid  into  the  respective  treasuries  thereof,  and  appropriated  to 
the  payment  of  the  balance  due  said  states,  and  to  the  future 
defence  of  the  same.  The  amount  so  paid  into  the  said  treasuries 


206  HARTFORD   CONVENTION  [Jan.  4 

to  be  credited,  and  the  disbursements  made  as  aforesaid  to  be 
charged  to  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  it  be,  and  hereby  is,  recommended  to  the  legis 
latures  of  the  aforesaid  states,  to  pass  laws  (where  it  has  not 
already  been  done)  authorizing  the  governors  or  commanders-in- 
chief  of  their  militia  to  make  detachments  from  the  same,  or  to 
form  voluntary  corps,  as  shall  be  most  convenient  and  conforma 
ble  to  their  constitutions,  and  to  cause  the  same  to  be  well  armed, 
equipped,  and  disciplined,  and  held  in  readiness  for  service ;  and 
upon  the  request  of  the  governor  of  either  of  the  other  states  to 
employ  the  whole  of  such  detachment  or  corps,  as  well  as  the 
regular  forces  of  the  state,  or  such  part  thereof  as  may  be  re 
quired  and  can  be  spared  consistently  with  the  safety  of  the  state, 
in  assisting  the  state,  making  such  request  to  repel  any  invasion 
thereof  which  shall  be  made  or  attempted  by  the  public  enemy. 

Resolved,  That  the  following  amendments  of  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  be  recommended  to  the  states  represented  as 
aforesaid,  to  be  proposed  by  them  for  adoption  by  the  state  legis 
latures,  and  in  such  cases  as  may  be  deemed  expedient  by  a 
convention  chosen  by  the  people  of  each  state. 

And  it  is  further  recommended,  that  the  said  states  shall  perse 
vere  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  such  amendments,  until  the  same 
shall  be  effected. 

First.  Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned 
among  the  several  states  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union, 
according  to  their  respective  numbers  of  free  persons,  including 
those  Abound  to  serve  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding  Indians 
not  taxed,  and  all  other  persons. 

Second.  No  new  state  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union  by 
Congress,  in  virtue  of  the  power  granted  by  the  constitution, 
without  the  concurrence  of  two  thirds  of  both  houses. 

Third.  Congress  shall  not  have  power  to  lay  any  embargo  on 
the  ships  or  vessels  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  the 
ports  or  harbours  thereof,  for  more  than  sixty  days. 

Fourth.  Congress  shall  not  have  power,  without  the  concur 
rence  of  two  thirds  of  both  houses,  to  interdict  the  commercial 
intercourse  between  the  United  States  and  any  foreign  nation,  or 
the  dependencies  thereof. 

Fifth.  Congress  shall  not  make  or  declare  war,  or  authorize 
*cts  of  hostility  against  any  foreign  nation,  without  the  concur- 


1815]  BANK  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  2O/ 

rence  of  two  thirds  of  both  houses,  except  such  acts  of  hostility  be 
in  defence  of  the  territories  of  the  United  States  when  actually 
invaded. 

Sixth.  No  person  who  shall  hereafter  be  naturalized,  shall  be 
eligible  as  a  member  of  the  senate  or  house  of  representatives  of 
the  United  States,  nor  capable  of  holding  any  civil  office  under 
the  authority  of  the  United  States. 

Seventh.  The  same  person  shall  not  be  elected  president  of 
the  United  States  a  second  time  ;  nor  shall  the  president  be  elected 
from  the  same  state  two  terms  in  succession. 

Resolved,  That  if  the  application  of  these  states  to  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  recommended  in  a  foregoing  resolu 
tion,  should  be  unsuccessful,  and  peace  should  not  be  concluded, 
and  the  defence  of  these  states  should  be  neglected,  as  it  has  been 
since  the  commencement  of  the  war,  it  will,  in  the  opinion  of  this 
convention,  be  expedient  for  the  legislatures  of  the  several  states 
to  appoint  delegates  to  another  convention,  to  meet  at  Boston  in 
the  state  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  third  Thursday  of  June  next, 
with  such  powers  and  instructions  as  the  exigency  of  a  crisis  so 
momentous  may  require. 

Resolved,  That  the  Hon.  George  Cabot,  the  Hon.  Chauncey 
Goodrich,  and  the  Hon.  Daniel  Lyman,  or  any  two  of  them, 
be  authorized  to  call  another  meeting  of  this  convention,  to  be 
holden  in  Boston,  at  any  time  before  new  delegates  shall  be 
chosen,  as  recommended  in  the  above  resolution,  if  in  their  judg 
ment  the  situation  of  the  country  shall  urgently  require  it.* 


No.   33.     Act  for  a  National  Bank 

April  10,  1816 

THE  charter  of  the  first  bank  of  the  United  States  expired  in  1811,  and  the 
effort  to  renew  it  was  unsuccessful.  A  bill  to  incorporate  a  bank  was  vetoed 
by  Madison  Jan.  30,  1815.  In  his  annual  message  Dec.  5,  1815,  Madison 
urged  the  necessity  of  an  uniform  national  currency,  and  suggested  a  national 
bank.  In  the  House  this  part  of  the  message  was  referred  to  a  select  com 
mittee,  of  which  Calhoun  was  chairman,  and  Jan.  8,  1816,  Calhoun  reported 
a  bill  to  incorporate  the  subscribers  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  The 
bill  was  not  taken  up  until  Feb.  26;  it  was  then  considered  at  nearly  every 
session  until  March  14,  when  it  passed,  by  a  vote  of  80  to  71.  The  bill  with 

*  The  names  of  the  members,  all  of  whom  signed  the  report,  are  omitted.  —  ED. 


208  BANK  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  [April  10 

amendments  passed  the  Senate  April  3,  by  a  vote  of  22  to  12.  April  5  the 
House  concurred  in  the  Senate  amendments;  on  the  loth  the  act  was  ap 
proved.  Only  the  significant  portions  of  the  act  are  here  given. 

REFERENCES.  —  l^ext  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  III.,  266-277.  For  the  Pr°- 
ceedings  see  the  House  and  Senate  Journals,  I4th  Cong.,  1st  Sess. ;  for  the 
discussions  see  the  Annals,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  V.  The  speeches  of 
Calhoun,  Clay,  and  Webster  (the  latter  against  the  bank)  are  of  especial  im 
portance.  The  letter  of  Dallas,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  Calhoun,  outlin 
ing  a  plan  for  a  national  bank,  is  in  Amer,  State  Papers,  Finance,  III.,  57-61 ; 
the  act  followed  in  the  main  Dallas's  suggestions.  The  veto  message  of  Jan. 
30,  1815,  with  the  text  of  the  bill,  is  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Finance,  II.,  891- 
895;  Spencer's  report  in  the  House,  Jan.  16,  1819,  on  the  conduct  of  the 
bank,  ib.,  III.,  306-391;  the  petition  of  the  bank  for  changes  in  its  charter, 
Jan.  12,  1821,  ib.,  III.,  586-594.  On  the  constitutionality  of  a  national  bank 
the  leading  case  is  M'Culloch  v.  Maryland,  4  Wheaton,  316-437.  Most  of 
the  discussion  over  the  bank  belongs  to  a  later  period. 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  subscribers  to  the  Bank  of  the  United 

States. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  a  bank  of 
the  United  States  of  America  shall  be  established,  with  a  capital 
of  thirty-five  millions  of  dollars,  divided  into  three  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  shares,  of  one  hundred  dollars  each  share.  Seventy 
thousand  shares,  amounting  to  the  sum  of  seven  millions  of  dol 
lars,  part  of  the  capital  of  the  said  bank,  shall  be  subscribed  and 
paid  for  by  the  United  States,  in  the  manner  hereinafter  specified  ; 
and  two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  shares,  amounting  to  the 
sum  of  twenty-eight  millions  of  dollars,  shall  be  subscribed  and 
paid  for  by  individuals,  companies,  or  corporations,  in  the  manner 
hereinafter  specified.  .  .  . 

SEC.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  for  the  management 
of  the  affairs  of  the  said  corporation,  there  shall  be  twenty-five 
directors,  five  of  whom,  being  stockholders,  shall  be  annually 
appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  not  more  than  three  of  whom 
shall  be  residents  of  any  one  state ;  and  twenty  of  whom  shall  be 
annually  elected  at  the  banking  house  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
on  the  first  Monday  of  January,  in  each  year,  by  the  qualified 
stockholders  of  the  capital  of  the  said  bank,  other  than  the  United 
States,  and  by  a  plurality  of  votes  then  and  there  actually  given, 
according  to  the  scale  of  voting  hereinafter  prescribed  :  Provided 
always,  That  no  person,  being  a  director  in  the  bank  of  the  United 


i8i6]  BANK  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  2OQ 

States,  or  any  of  its  branches,  shall  be  a  director  of  any  other 
bank ;  and  should  any  such  director  act  as  a  director  in  any  other 
bank,  it  shall  forthwith  vacate  his  appointment  in  the  direction 
of  the  bank  of  the  United  States.  And  the  directors,  so  duly 
appointed  and  elected,  shall  be  capable  of  serving,  by  virtue  of 
such  appointment  and  choice,  from  the  first  Monday  in  the  month 
of  January  of  each  year,  until  the  end  and  expiration  of  the  first 
Monday  in  the  month  of  January  of  the  year  next  ensuing  the 
time  of  each  annual  election  to  be  held  by  the  stockholders  as 
aforesaid.  And  the  board  of  directors,  annually,  at  the  first  meet 
ing  after  their  election  in  each  and  every  year,  shall  proceed  to 
elect  one  of  the  directors  to  be  president  of  the  corporation,  who 
shall  hold  the  said  office  during  the  same  period  for  which  the 
directors  are  appointed  and  elected  as  aforesaid  :  .  .  .  And  pro 
vided  also,  That  in  case  of  the  death,  resignation,  or  removal,  of 
the  president  of  the  said  corporation,  the  directors  shall  proceed 
to  elect  another  president  from  the  directors  as  aforesaid :  and  in 
case  of  the  death,  resignation,  or  absence,  from  the  United  States, 
or  removal  of  a  director  from  office,  the  vacancy  shall  be  supplied 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  or  by  the  stockholders,  as 
the  case  may  be.  But  the  President  of  the  United  States  alone 
shall  have  power  to  remove  any  of  the  directors  appointed  by  him 
as  aforesaid. 

SEC.  9.  And  be  it  fiirther  enacted,  .  .  .  And  the  President 
of  the  United  States  is  hereby  authorized,  during  the  present  ses 
sion  of  Congress,  to  nominate,  and,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  to  appoint,  five  directors  of  the  said  bank, 
though  not  stockholders,  any  thing  in  the  provisions  of  this  act  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding ;  .  .  . 

SEC.  1 1 .  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  following  rules, 
restrictions,  limitations,  and  provisions,  shall  form  and  be  funda 
mental  articles  of  the  constitution  of  the  said  corporation,  to  wit : 

*********** 

Eighth.  The  total  amount  of  debts  which  the  said  corporation 
shall  at  any  time  owe,  whether  by  bond,  bill,  note,  or  other  con 
tract,  over  and  above  the  debt  or  debts  due  for  money  deposited 
in  the  bank,  shall  not  exceed  the  sum  of  thirty-five  millions  of  dol 
lars,  unless  the  contracting  of  any  greater  debt  shall  have  been 
previously  authorized  by  law  of  the  United  States.  .  .  . 

###*####### 
p 


2IO  BANK  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES  [April  10 

Ninth.  The  said  corporation  shall  not,  directly  or  indirectly, 
deal  or  trade  in  any  thing  except  bills  of  exchange,  gold  or  silver 
bullion,  or  in  the  sale  of  goods  really  and  truly  pledged  for  money 
lent  and  not  redeemed  in  due  time,  or  goods  which  shall  be  the 
proceeds  of  its  lands.  It  shall  not  be  at  liberty  to  purchase  any 
public  debt  whatsoever,  nor  shall  it  take  more  than  at  the  rate  of 
six  per  centum  per  annum  for  or  upon  its  loans  or  discounts. 

Tenth.  No  loan  shall  be  made  by  the  said  corporation,  for  the 
use  or  on  account  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  to  an 
amount  exceeding  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  or  of  any  particu 
lar  state,  to  an  amount  exceeding  fifty  thousand  dollars,  or  of  any 
foreign  prince  or  state,  unless  previously  authorized  by  a  law  of  the 
United  States. 

*********** 

Fourteenth.  The  directors  of  the  said  corporation  shall  estab 
lish  a  competent  office  of  discount  and  deposit  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  whenever  any  law  of  the  United  States  shall  require 
such  an  establishment ;  also  one  such  office  of  discount  and 
deposit  in  any  state  in  which  two  thousand  shares  shall  have  been 
subscribed  or  may  be  held,  whenever,  upon  application  of  the 
legislature  of  such  state,  Congress  may,  by  law,  require  the  same  : 
Provided,  the  directors  aforesaid  shall  not  be  bound  to  establish 
such  office  before  the  whole  of  the  capital  of  the  bank  shall  have 
been  paid  up.  And  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  directors  of  the  said 
corporation  to  establish  offices  of  discount  and  deposit,  whereso 
ever  they  shall  think  fit,  within  the  United  States  or  the  territories 
thereof,  and  to  commit  the  management  of  the  said  offices,  and 
the  business  thereof,  respectively  to  such  persons,  and  under  such 
regulations  as  they  shall  deem  proper,  not  being  contrary  to  law 
or  the  constitution  of  the  bank.  Or  instead  of  establishing  such 
offices,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  directors  of  the  said  corporation, 
from  time  to  time,  to  employ  any  other  bank  or  banks,  to  be  first 
approved  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  at  any  place  or  places 
that  they  may  deem  safe  and  proper,  to  manage  and  transact  the 
business  proposed  as  aforesaid,  other  than  for  the  purposes  of  dis 
count,  to  be  managed  and  transacted  by  such  offices,  under  such 
agreements,  and  subject  to  such  regulations,  as  they  shall  deem 
just  and  proper.  .  .  . 

Fifteenth.  The  officer  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury  Department 
of  the  United  States  shall  be  furnished,  from  time  .to  time,  as  often 


1816]  BANK  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  211 

as  he  may  require,  not  exceeding  once  a  week,  with  statements 
of  the  amount  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  said  corporation  and  of 
the  debts  due  to  the  same ;  of  the  moneys  deposited  therein ;  of 
the  notes  in  circulation,  and  of  the  specie  in  hand  ;  and  shall  have 
a  right  to  inspect  such  general  accounts  in  the  books  of  the  bank 
as  shall  relate  to  the  said  statement :  Provided,  That  this  shall  not 
be  construed  to  imply  a  right  of  inspecting  the  account  of  any 
private  individual  or  individuals  with  the  bank.  .  .  . 

SEC.  14.  And  be  it  fiirther  enacted,  That  the  bills  or  notes  of 
the  said  corporation  originally  made  payable,  or  which  shall  have 
become  payable  on  demand,  shall  be  receivable  in  all  payments 
to  the  United  States,  unless  otherwise  directed  by  act  of  Congress. 

SEC.  15.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  during  the  continu 
ance  of  this  act,  and  whenever  required  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  the  said  corporation  shall  give  the  necessary  facilities 
for  transferring  the  public  funds  from  place  to  place,  within  the 
United  States,  or  the  territories  thereof,  and  for  distributing  the 
same  in  payment  of  the  public  creditors,  without  charging  com 
missions  or  claiming  allowance  on  account  of  difference  of  ex 
change,  and  shall  also  do  and  perform  the  several  and  respective 
duties  of  the  commissioners  of  loans  for  the  several  states,  or  of 
any  one  or  more  of  them,  whenever  required  by  law. 

SEC.  1 6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  deposits  of  the 
money  of  the  United  States,  in  places  in  which  the  said  bank  and 
branches  thereof  may  be  established,  shall  be  made  in  said  bank 
or  branches  thereof,  unless  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  at 
any  time  otherwise  order  and  direct ;  in  which  case  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  shall  immediately  lay  before  Congress,  if  in  ses 
sion,  and  if  not,  immediately  after  the  commencement  of  the  next 
session,  the  reasons  of  such  order  or  direction. 

SEC.  17.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  corporation 
shall  not  at  any  time  suspend  or  refuse  payment  in  gold  and 
silver,  of  any  of  its  notes,  bills  or  obligations ;  nor  of  any  moneys 
received  upon  deposit  in  said  bank,  or  in  any  of  its  offices  of 
discount  and  deposit.  .  .  . 

SEC.  20.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  consideration  of 
the  exclusive  privileges  and  benefits  conferred  by  this  act,  upon 
the  said  bank,  the  president,  directors,  and  company  thereof, 
shall  pay  to  the  United  States,  out  of  the  corporate  funds  thereof, 
the  sum  of  one  million  and  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  in  three 


212  BANK   OF  THE   UNITED    STATES  [April  10 

equal  payments  ;  that  is  to  say  :  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  at 
the  expiration  of  two  years ;  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  at  the 
expiration  of  three  years  ;  and  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  at  the 
expiration  of  four  years  after  the  said  bank  shall  be  organized,  and 
commence  its  operations  in  the  manner  herein  before  provided. 

SEC.  21.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  other  bank  shall 
be  established  by  any  future  law  of  the  United  States  during  the 
continuance  of  the  corporation  hereby  created,  for  which  the  faith 
of  the  United  States  is  hereby  pledged.  Provided,  Congress  may 
renew  existing  charters  for  banks  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  not 
increasing  the  capital  thereof,  and  may  also  establish  any  other 
bank  or  banks  in  said  district,  with  capitals  not  exceeding,  in  the 
whole,  six  millions  of  dollars,  if  they  shall  deem  it  expedient.  .  .  . 

SEC.  23.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall,  at  all  times, 
be  lawful,  for  a  committee  of  either  house  of  Congress,  appointed 
for  that  purpose,  to  inspect  the  books,  and  to  examine  into  the 
proceedings  of  the  corporation  hereby  created,  and  to  report 
whether  the  provisions  of  this  charter  have  been,  by  the  same, 
violated  or  not ;  and  whenever  any  committee,  as  aforesaid,  shall 
find  and  report,  or  the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  charter  has  been  violated,  it  may  be 
lawful  for  Congress  to  direct,  or  the  President  to  order  a  scire 
facias  to  be  sued  out  of  the  circuit  court  of  the  district  of  Penn 
sylvania,  in  the  name  of  the  United  States,  (which  shall  be  exe 
cuted  upon  the  president  of  the  corporation  for  the  time  being,  at 
least  fifteen  days  before  the  commencement  of  the  term  of  said 
court,)  calling  on  the  said  corporation  to  show  cause  wherefore 
the  charter  hereby  granted,  shall  not  be  declared  forfeited ;  and 
it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  said  court,  upon  the  return  of  the  said 
scire  facias,  to  examine  into  the  truth  of  the  alleged  violation,  and 
if  such  violation  be  made  appear,  then  to  pronounce  and  adjudge 
that  the  said  charter  is  forfeited  and  annulled.  Provided,  how 
ever,  Every  issue  of  fact  which  may  be  joined  between  the  United 
States  and  the  corporation  aforesaid,  shall  be  tried  by  jury. 
And  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  court  aforesaid  to  require  the  pro 
duction  of  such  of  the  books  of  the  corporation  as  it  may  deem 
necessary  for  the  ascertainment  of  the  controverted  facts  :  and  the 
final  judgment  of  the  court  aforesaid,  shall  be  examinable  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  by  writ  of  error,  and  may 
be  there  reversed  or  affirmed,  according  to  the  usages  of  law. 


1816}  FLORIDA  TREATY  213 

No.    34.     Treaty  with  Spain  for  the  Floridas 

February  22,  1819 

PARTLY  because  of  disputes  regarding  claims,  and  partly  because  of  the 
establishment  by  the  United  States  of  a  customs  district  which  included  Mobile, 
the  King  of  Spain  refused  to  ratify  the  treaty  of  1802.  Efforts  to  adjust  the 
differences  between  the  two  countries  failed,  and  in  1808  diplomatic  relations 
were  broken  off.  October  27,  1810,  Madison  by  proclamation  directed  Clai- 
borne,  governor  of  Orleans  Territory,  to  take  possession  of  West  Florida  for 
the  United  States,  and  secret  acts  of  Jan.  15  and  March  3,  1811,  authorized 
the  President  to  take  temporary  possession  of  East  Florida.  Diplomatic  rela 
tions  were  resumed  in  1815,  and  a  long  correspondence  followed,  ending  in 
the  treaty  of  Feb.  22,  1819.  The  treaty  was  not  ratified  by  Spain  until  Oct. 
24,  1820,  and  was  again  ratified  by  the  Senate  Feb.  19,  1821.  An  act  of  March 
3,  1821,  authorized  the  President  to  take  possession  of  East  and  West  Florida 
in  accordance  with  the  treaty. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia, 
etc.  (ed.  1875),  712-717.  The  diplomatic  correspondence  is  in  Amer.  State 
Papers,  Foreign  Relations,  IV.,  V.,  and  Annals,  1 5th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  II., 
appendix.  For  important  contemporary  views,  see  J.  Q.  Adams's  Memoirs, 
IV.,  V.;  Benton's  1'hirty  Years'  View,  I.,  chap.  6;  II.,  chaps.  42,  155;  Clay's 
speech  on  the  treaty,  in  his  Life  and  Speeches  (ed.  1844),  I.,  392-404;  and 
various  letters  of  Gallatin,  in  his  Writings  (Adams's  ed.),  II.  See  also  Whar- 
ton's  Intern.  Law  Digest  (ed.  1887),  II.,  277-287;  Winsor's  Narrative  and 
Critical  History,  VII.,  543-546;  Donaldson's  Public  Domain,  108-120  (H. 
Misc.  Doc.,  47th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  vol.  19);  Lyman's  Diplomacy  of  the  United 
States,  II.,  chap.  5. 

The  United  States  of  America  and  His  Catholic  Majesty,  de 
siring  to  consolidate,  on  a  permanent  basis,  the  friendship  and 
good  correspondence  which  happily  prevails  between  the  two 
parties,  have  determined  to  settle  and  terminate  all  their  dif 
ferences  and  pretensions,  by  a  treaty,  which  shall  designate,  with 
precision,  the  limits  of  their  respective  bordering  territories  in 
North  America. 

With  this  intention  the  President  of  the  United  States  has 
furnished  with  their  full  powers  John  Quincy  Adams,  Secretary 
of  State  of  the  said  United  States ;  and  His  Catholic  Majesty  has 
appointed  the  Most  Excellent  Lord  Don  Luis  de  Onis,  Gonzales, 
Lopez  y  Vara,  Lord  of  the  town  of  Rayaces,  Perpetual  Regidor  of 
the  Corporation  of  the  city  of  Salamanca,  Knight  Grand  Cross 
of  the  Royal  American  Order  of  Isabella  the  Catholic,  decorated 
with  the  Lys  of  La  Vendee,  Knight  Pensioner  of  the  Royal  and 


214  FLORIDA  TREATY  [Feb.  22 

Distinguished  Spanish  Order  of  Charles  the  Third,  Member  of  the 
Supreme  Assembly  of  the  said  Royal  Order ;  of  the  Council  of 
His  Catholic  Majesty;  His  Secretary,  with  Exercise  of  Decrees, 
and  His  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  near 
the  United  States  of  America ; 

And  the  said  Plenipotentiaries,  after  having  exchanged  their 
powers,  have  agreed  upon  and  concluded  the  following  articles  : 

ARTICLE  I. 

There  shall  be  a  firm  and  inviolable  peace  and  sincere  friend 
ship  between  the  United  States  and  their  citizens  and  His  Catholic 
Majesty,  his  successors  and  subjects,  without  exception  of  persons 
or  places. 

ARTICLE  II. 

His  Catholic  Majesty  cedes  to  the  United  States,  in  full  property 
and  sovereignty,  all  the  territories  which  belong  to  him,  situated 
to  the  eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  known  by  the  name  of  East  and 
West  Florida.  The  adjacent  islands  dependent  on  said  provinces, 
all  public  lots  and  squares,  vacant  lands,  public  edifices,  fortifi 
cations,  barracks,  and  other  buildings,  which  are  not  private 
property,  archives  and  documents,  which  relate  directly  to  the 
property  and  sovereignty  of  said  provinces,  are  included  in  this 
article.  The  said  archives  and  documents  shall  be  left  in  posses 
sion  of  the  commissaries  or  officers  of  the  United  States,  duly 
authorized  to  receive  them. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  boundary  line  between  the  two  countries,  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  shall  begin  on  the  Gulph  of  Mexico,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Sabine,  in  the  sea,  continuing  north,  along  the  western 
bank  of  that  river,  to  the  32d  degree  of  latitude  ;  thence,  by  a  line 
due  north,  to  the  degree  of  latitude  where  it  strikes  the  Rio  Roxo 
of  Nachitoches,  or  Red  River ;  then  following  the  course  of  the 
Rio  Roxo  westward,  to  the  degree  of  longitude  100  west  from 
London  and  23  from  Washington  ;  then,  crossing  the  said  Red 
River,  and  running  thence,  by  a  line  due  north,  to  the  river 
Arkansas ;  thence,  following  the  course  of  the  southern  bank  of 
the  Arkansas,  to  its  source,  in  latitude  42  north ;  and  thence,  by 
that  parallel  of  latitude,  to  the  South  Sea.  The  whole  being  as 
laid  down  in  Melish's  map  of  the  United  States,  published  at 


1819]  FLORIDA  TREATY  21 5 

Philadelphia,  improved  to  the  first  of  January,  1818.  But  if  the 
source  of  the  Arkansas  River  shall  be  found  to  fall  north  or  south 
of  latitude  42,  then  the  line  shall  run  from  the  said  source  due 
south  or  north,  as  the  case  may  be,  till  it  meets  the  said  parallel 
of  latitude  42,  and  thence,  along  the  said  parallel,  to  the  South 
Sea  :  All  the  islands  in  the  Sabine,  and  the  said  Red  and  Arkansas 
Rivers,  throughout  the  course  thus  described,  to  belong  to  the 
United  States ;  but  the  use  of  the  waters,  and  the  navigation  of 
the  Sabine  to  the  sea,  and  of  the  said  rivers  Roxo  and  Arkansas, 
throughout  the  extent  of  the  said  boundary,  on  their  respective 
banks,  shall  be  common  to  the  respective  inhabitants  of  both 
nations. 

The  two  high  contracting  parties  agree  to  cede  and  renounce 
all  their  rights,  claims,  and  pretensions,  to  the  territories  described 
by  the  said  line,  that  is  to  say :  The  United  States  hereby  cede 
to  His  Catholic  Majesty,  and  renounce  forever,  all  their  rights, 
claims,  and  pretensions,  to  the  territories  lying  west  and  south 
of  the  above-described  line ;  and,  in  like  manner,  His  Catholic 
Majesty  cedes  to  the  said  United  States  all  his  rights,  claims,  and 
pretensions  to  any  territories  east  and  north  of  the  said  line, 
and  for  himself,  his  heirs,  and  successors,  renounces  all  claim  to 
the  said  territories  forever. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

[Commissioners  and  surveyors  to  be  appointed  to  run  and  mark 
the  boundary  line.] 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  ceded  territories  shall  be  secured  in  the 
free  exercise  of  their  religion,  without  any  restriction ;  and  all 
those  who  may  desire  to  remove  to  the  Spanish  dominions  shall 
be  permitted  to  sell  or  export  their  effects,  at  any  time  whatever, 
without  being  subject,  in  either  case,  to  duties. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  territories  which  His  Catholic  Majesty 
cedes  to  the  United  States,  by  this  treaty,  shall  be  incorporated 
in  the  Union  of  the  United  States,  as  soon  as  may  be  consistent 
with  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  admitted  to 
the  enjoyment  of  all  the  privileges,  rights,  and  immunities  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States. 


2l6  FLORIDA  TREATY  [Feb.  22 

ARTICLE  VII. 
[Spanish  troops  to  be  withdrawn.] 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

[Grants  of  land  prior  to  Jan.  24,  1818,  to  be  ratified  and  con 
firmed  ;  all  subsequent  grants  to  be  null  and  void.] 

ARTICLE  IX. 

The  two  high  contracting  parties,  animated  with  the  most  earnest 
desire  of  conciliation,  and  with  the  object  of  putting  an  end  to  all 
the  differences  which  have  existed  between  them,  and  of  confirming 
the  good  understanding  which  they  wish  to  be  forever  maintained 
between  them,  reciprocally  renounce  all  claims  for  damages  or 
injuries  which  they,  themselves,  as  well  as  their  respective  citizens 
and  subjects,  may  have  suffered  until  the  time  of  signing  this 
treaty. 

The  renunciation  of  the  United  States  will  extend  to  all  the 
injuries  mentioned  in  the  convention  of  the  nth  of  August,  1802. 

2.  To  all  claims  on  account  of  prizes  made  by  French  priva 
teers,  and  condemned  by  French  Consuls,  within  the  territory  and 
jurisdiction  of  Spain. 

3.  To  all  claims  of  indemnities  on  account  of  the  suspension 
of  the  right  of  deposit  at  New  Orleans  in  1802. 

4.  To  all  claims  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  upon  the  Gov 
ernment  of  Spain,  arising  from  the  unlawful  seizures  at  sea,  and  in 
the  ports  and  territories  of  Spain,  or  the  Spanish  colonies. 

5.  To   all  claims  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  upon  the 
Spanish  Government,  statements  of  which,  soliciting  the  interposi 
tion  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  have  been  presented 
to  the  Department  of  State,  or  to  the  Minister  of  the  United  States 
in  Spain,  since  the  date  of  the  convention  of  1802,  and  until  the 
signature  of  this  treaty. 

The  renunciation  of  His  Catholic  Majesty  extends  — 

1.  To  all  the  injuries  mentioned  in  the  convention  of  the  nth 
of  August,  1802. 

2.  To  the  sums  which  His  Catholic  Majesty  advanced  for  the 
return  of  Captain  Pike  from  the  Provincias  Internas. 

3.  To  all  injuries  caused  by  the  expedition  of  Miranda,  that 
was  fitted  out  and  equipped  at  New  York. 


1819]  FLORIDA  TREATY  217 

4.  To  all  claims  of  Spanish  subjects  upon  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  arizing  from  unlawful  seizures  at  sea,  or  within 
the  ports  and  territorial  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States. 

Finally,  to  all  the  claims  of  subjects  of  His  Catholic  Majesty 
upon  the  Government  of  the  United  States  in  which  the  interposi 
tion  of  His  Catholic  Majesty's  Government  has  been  solicited, 
before  the  date  of  this  treaty  and  since  the  date  of  the  convention  of 
1802,  or  which  may  have  been  made  to  the  department  of  foreign 
affairs  of  His  Majesty,  or  to  his  Minister  in  the  United  States. 

And  the  high  contracting  parties,  respectively,  renounce  all 
claim  to  indemnities  for  any  of  the  recent  events  or  transactions 
of  their  respective  commanders  and  officers  in  the  Floridas. 

The  United  States  will  cause  satisfaction  to  be  made  for  the 
injuries,  if  any,  which,  by  process  of  law,  shall  be  established  to 
have  been  suffered  by  the  Spanish  officers,  and  individual  Spanish 
inhabitants,  by  the  late  operations  of  the  American  Army  in 
Florida.* 

ARTICLE  X. 

The  convention  entered  into  between  the  two  Governments,  on 
the  i  ith  of  August,  1802,  the  ratifications  of  which  were  exchanged 
the  2ist  December,  1818,  is  annulled. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

The  United  States,  exonerating  Spain  from  all  demands  in  future, 
on  account  of  the  claims  of  their  citizens  to  which  the  renun 
ciations  herein  contained  extend,  and  considering  them  entirely 
cancelled,  undertake  to  make  satisfaction  for  the  same,  to  an 
amount  not  exceeding  five  millions  of  dollars.  To  ascertain  the 
full  amount  and  validity  of  those  claims,  a  commission,  to  consist 
of  three  Commissioners,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Senate,  which  commission  shall  meet  at  the  city  of  Wash 
ington,  and,  within  the  space  of  three  years  from  the  time  of  their 
first  meeting,  shall  receive,  examine,  and  decide  upon  the  amount 
and  validity  of  all  the  claims  included  within  the  descriptions 
above  mentioned.!  .  .  . 

*  The  act  of  March  3,  1823,  to  carry  into  effect  Art.  IX.,  is  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at 
Large,  III.,  768.  — ED. 

t  The  commission  was  provided  for  by  act  of  March  3,  1821  (  U.  S.  Stat.  at 
Large,  III.,  637-639) .—  Eu. 


2l8  FLORIDA  TREATY  [Feb.  22 

The  payment  of  such  claims  as  may  be  admitted  and  adjusted 
by  the  said  Commissioners,  or  the  major  part  of  them,  to  an 
amount  not  exceeding  five  millions  of  dollars,  shall  be  made  by 
the  United  States,  either  immediately  at  their  Treasury,  or  by  the 
creation  of  stock,  bearing  an  interest  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum, 
payable  from  the  proceeds  of  sales  of  public  lands  within  the 
territories  hereby  ceded  to  the  United  States,  or  in  such  other 
manner  as  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  may  prescribe  by 
law.* 


ARTICLE  XII. 

The  treaty  of  limits  and  navigation,  of  1795,  remains  confirmed 
in  all  and  each  one  of  its  articles  excepting  the  2,  3,  4,  21,  and 
the  second  clause  of  the  22d  article,  which  having  been  altered 
by  this  treaty,  or  having  received  their  entire  execution,  are  no 
longer  valid. 

With  respect  to  the  i5th  article  of  the  same  treaty  of  friendship, 
limits,  and  navigation  of  1795,  in  which  it  is  stipulated  that  the 
flag  shall  cover  the  property,  the  two  high  contracting  parties 
agree  that  this  shall  be  so  understood  with  respect  to  those  Powers 
who  recognize  this  principle  ;  but  if  either  of  the  two  contracting 
parties  shall  be  at  war  with  a  third  party,  and  trie  other  neutral, 
the  flag  of  the  neutral  shall  cover  the  property  of  enemies  whose 
Government  acknowledge  this  principle,  and  not  of  others. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

[Deserters  to  be  arrested  and  delivered  up  at  the  instance  of 
Consuls.] 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

The  United  States  hereby  certify  that  they  have  not  received 
any  compensation  from  France  for  the  injuries  they  suffered  from 
her  privateers,  Consuls,  and  tribunals  on  the  coasts  and  in  the 
ports  of  Spain,  for  the  satisfaction  of  which  provision  is  made  by 
this  treaty  ;  and  they  will  present  an  authentic  statement  of  the 
prizes  made,  and  of  their  true  value,  that  Spain  may  avail  herself 
of  the  same  in  such  manner  as  she  may  deem  just  and  proper. 

*  A  stock  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  claims  was  created  by  act  of  May  24, 
1824  (  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  IV.,  33,  34).  -  ED. 


i8i9]  MISSOURI   COMPROMISE  219 

ARTICLE  XV. 

The  United  States,  to  give  to  His  Catholic  Majesty  a  proof  of 
their  desire  to  cement  the  relations  of  amity  subsisting  between 
the  two  nations,  and  to  favour  the  commerce  of  the  subjects  of 
His  Catholic  Majesty,  agree  that  Spanish  vessels,  coming  laden 
only  with  productions  of  Spanish  growth  or  manufactures,  directly 
from  the  ports  of  Spain,  or  of  her  colonies,  shall  be  admitted, 
for  the  term  of  twelve  years,  to  the  ports  of  Pensacola  and  St. 
Augustine,  in  the  Floridas,  without  paying  other  or  higher  duties 
on  their  cargoes,  or  of  tonnage,  than  will  be  paid  by  the  vessels 
of  the  United  States.  During  the  said  term  no  other  nation  shall 
enjoy  the  same  privileges  within  the  ceded  territories.  The  twelve 
years  shall  commence  three  months  after  the  exchange  of  the 
ratifications  of  this  treaty. 

ARTICLE  XVI. 

The  present  treaty  shall  be  ratified  in  due  form,  by  the  con 
tracting  parties,  and  the  ratifications  shall  be  exchanged  in  six 
months  from  this  time,  or  sooner  if  possible. 

In  witness  whereof  we,  the  underwritten  Plenipotentiaries  of  the 
United  States  of  America  and  of  His  Catholic  Majesty,  have  signed, 
by  virtue  of  our  powers,  the  present  treaty  of  amity,  settlement, 
and  limits,  and  have  thereunto  affixed  our  seals,  respectively. 

Done  at  Washington  this  twenty-second  day  of  February,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  nineteen. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  [L.S.] 
Luis  DE  ONIS.  [L.S.] 


Missouri  Compromise 
1820-21 

THE  Territory  of  Missouri,  originally  a  part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase,  was 
organized  by  act  of  June  4,  1812.  January  8,  Feb.  2,  and  March  16,  1818, 
memorials  were  presented  in  the  House  praying  for  the  admission  of  the  Ter 
ritory  as  a  State.  An  enabling  act  was  reported  April  3,  but  there  was  no 
further  action  during  the  session.  December  18,  1818,  a  memorial  of  the 
Missouri  legislature,  praying  for  admission  as  a  State,  was  presented,  and 
Feb.  13,  1819,  the  House  took  up  the  enabling  act  of  the  previous  session. 
An  amendment  offered  by  Tallmadge,  of  New  York,  restricting  the  further 
extension  of  slavery  in  the  new  State,  gave  rise  to  much  discussion,  but  was 


220  MISSOURI   COMPROMISE  [1820-21 

finally  agreed  to  on  the  i6th,  by  two  votes  of  87  to  76  and  82  to  78,  and  on 
the  1 7th  the  bill  passed  the  House.  The  Senate,  Feb.  27,  by  votes  of  31  to  7 
and  22  to  1 6,  struck  out  the  Tallmadge  amendment,  and  on  March  2  passed 
the  bill  with  amendments.  The  House  refused  to  concur,  and  the  bill  was 
lost.  The  issue  was  now  joined  on  the  status  of  slavery  in  Missouri.  A  num 
ber  of  northern  legislatures  passed  resolutions  endorsing  the  Tallmadge  propo 
sition,  and  a  large  number  of  petitions  to  the  same  effect  were  transmitted  to 
Congress.  In  the  i6th  Congress,  which  met  Dec.  6,  1819,  the  admission  of 
Alabama  restored  the  balance  between  free  and  slave  States.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  people  of  the  District  of  Maine  had  held  a  convention  and  drafted  a 
State  constitution,  and  on  Dec.  8  the  memorial  of  the  convention,  praying 
admission  as  a  State,  was  presented  to  Congress.  A  bill  for  the  admission  of 
Maine  was  reported  in  the  House  Dec.  21,  and  passed  Jan.  3,  1820.  A  bill 
to  the  same  effect  had  been  reported  in  the  Senate  Dec.  22,  but  on  the  receipt 
of  the  House  bill  further  consideration  was  postponed.  In  the  Senate  the 
Maine  bill  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  which  reported 
amendments  in  the  form  of  a  "  rider  "  providing  for  the  admission  of  Missouri, 
without  prohibition  of  slavery.  The  bill  as  amended  was  taken  up  Jan.  13, 
and  discussed  until  Feb.  16,  when,  by  a  vote  of  23  to  21,  the  report  of  the 
committee  was  concurred  in.  February  3,  in  the  course  of  the  discussion, 
Senator  Thomas  of  Illinois  submitted  an  amendment  prohibiting  slavery  in 
the  territory  acquired  from  France  north  of  the  line  of  36°  30',  except  Mis 
souri;  the  amendment  was  withdrawn  on  the  7th,  however,  and  offered  again 
on  the  1 6th;  on  the  1 7th,  by  a  vote  of  34  to  10,  it  was  adopted.  On  the  1 8th 
the  Maine  bill,  as  thus  amended,  passed  the  Senate. 

In  the  meantime,  the  House  also  had  been  considering  the  Missouri  ques 
tion.  December  8  the  Missouri  memorials  presented  in  the  previous  session 
had  been  referred  to  a  select  committee,  which  reported  an  enabling  act  on 
the  following  day.  The  bill  was  taken  up  Jan.  25,  and  debated  until  P'eb.  1 8. 
On  the  23d,  so  much  of  the  Senate  amendments  as  comprised  the  Missouri 
enabling  act  was  disagreed  to,  by  a  vote  of  93  to  72,  and  the  Thomas  amend 
ment  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  159  to  1 8.  On  the  28th  the  House  again  in 
sisted  on  its  disagreement  to  the  Senate  amendments,  the  votes  being  97  to 
76  on  the  Missouri  portions,  and  1 60  to  14  on  the  Thomas  clause.  The  con 
sideration  of  the  Missouri  bill  was  meanwhile  continued.  On  the  26th  an 
amendment  to  the  same  effect  as  the  Thomas  amendment  in  the  Senate  was 
rejected,  and  on  the  29th  an  amendment  offered  by  Taylor,  of  New  York,  pro 
hibiting  slavery  in  Missouri,  was  concurred  in  by  a  vote  of  94  to  86;  March 
I,  by  a  vote  of  91  to  82,  the  bill  passed  the  House.  In  the  Senate  the  clause 
prohibiting  slavery  was  stricken  out,  and  the  Thomas  amendment  inserted. 
A  compromise  was  effected  by  a  conference  committee;  the  Maine  and  Mis 
souri  bills  were  passed  separately,  and  slavery  was  permitted  in  Missouri,  but 
prohibited  in  the  remainder  of  the  Louisiana  purchase  north  of  36°  30'.  The 
act  for  the  admission  of  Maine  was  approved  March  3,  and  the  act  authorizing 
Missouri  to  form  a  state  government  was  approved  March  6. 

The  constitution  under  which  Missouri  applied  for  admission  contained  a 
clause  forbidding  free  negroes  to  enter  the  State.  The  constitution  was  trans 
mitted  to  Congress  at  the  beginning  of  the  session,  November,  1820.  A  reso- 


1819]  TALLMADGE'S   AMENDMENT  221 

lution  to  admit  Missouri  as  a  State  was  reported  in  the  Senate  Nov.  20,  taken 
up  Dec.  4,  and  debated  until  the  1 2th,  when  it  was  passed.  In  the  House 
the  resolution  was  laid  on  the  table  until  Jan.  15,  1821,  when  it  was  taken  up 
and  debated  until  Feb.  2,  without  any  agreement  being  reached;  it  was  then, 
on  motion  of  Clay,  referred  to  a  select  committee  of  thirteen.  The  report  of 
the  committee,  on  the  loth,  recommended  amendments  similar  to  those  after 
wards  agreed  upon.  On  the  1 2th,  after  agreeing  to  the  report,  the  third  read 
ing  was  refused  by  a  vote  of  80  to  83;  the  next  day  a  motion  to  reconsider 
was  carried,  101  to  66,  but,  by  a  vote  of  82  to  88,  the  third  reading  was  again 
refused.  On  the  22d  Clay  proposed  the  election  of  a  joint  committee  to  con 
sider  and  report  on  the  advisability  of  admitting  Missouri;  this  was  agreed  to 
by  a  vote  of  101  to  55,  and  on  the  following  day  the  committee  was  chosen. 
The  Senate,  in  the  meantime,  had  rejected  several  propositions  for  admission, 
but  agreed  to  the  plan  of  a  joint  committee  by  a  vote  of  29  to  7.  The  report 
of  the  committee,  in  the  terms  of  the  resolution  as  later  passed,  was  agreed  to 
by  the  House  Feb.  26,  by  a  vote  of  87  to  81 ;  the  Senate  agreed  to  the  report 
on  the  28th,  by  a  vote  of  28  to  14;  March  2  the  resolution  was  approved. 
The  condition  imposed  by  the  resolution  was  accepted  by  the  legislature  of 
Missouri  June  26,  1821,  and  a  proclamation  of  Aug.  10  announced  the  admis 
sion  of  Missouri  as  a  State. 

The  extracts  following  relate  chiefly  to  the  question  of  slavery  as  involved 
in  the  compromises. 

REFERENCES.  —  Accompanying  each  of  the  following  extracts  is  an  indi 
cation  of  the  source  from  which  it  is  drawn.  The  act  for  the  admission  of 
Maine  is  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  III.,  544;  the  act  authorizing  Missouri  to 
form  a  State  constitution,  ib.,  III.,  545-548.  The  constitution  of  1820  is  in 
Poore's  Federal  and  State  Constitutions,  II.,  1104-1117,  and  Niles's  Register, 
XIX.,  50-57.  The  proceedings  of  Congress  may  be  followed  in  the  House 
and  Senate  Journals,  i6th  Cong.,  1st  and  2d  Sess.;  full  reports  of  the  debates 
are  in  the  Annals ;  Benton's  Abridgment,  VI.,  VII.;  Niles's  Register,  XVII., 
XVIII.,  XIX.  The  compromise  is  treated  at  length  in  all  the  general  histories 
of  the  period,  and  in  biographies  of  public  men  of  the  time  :  see  further,  John 
ston,  in  Lalor 's  Cyclopaedia,  I.,  549—552;  J.  Q.  Adams's  Memoirs,  IV.,  V. 
The  nature  and  effect  of  the  compromise  were  much  discussed  in  the  debates 
on  the  compromise  measures  of  1850  and  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act  of  1854. 


No.  35.     Tallmadge's  Amendment 

February  13,  1819 

And  provided,  That  the  further  introduction  of  slavery  or  invol 
untary  servitude  be  prohibited,  except  for  the  punishment  of 
crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  fully  [duly]  convicted ; 
and  that  all  children  born  within  the  said  State,  after  the  admis 
sion  thereof  into  the  Union,  shall  be  free  at  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years.  [Annals,  1 5th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  1170.] 


222  MISSOURI   COMPROMISE  [1820 

No.  36.     Taylor's  Amendment 

January  26,  1820 

The  reading  of  the  bill  proceeded  as  far  as  the  fourth  section ; 
when 

Mr.  Taylor,  of  New  York,  proposed  to  amend  the  bill  by  incor 
porating  in  that  section  the  following  provision  : 

Section  4,  line  25,  insert  the  following  after  the  word  "  States  "  : 
"  And  shall  ordain  and  establish,  that  there  shall  be  neither  slavery 
nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the  said  State,  otherwise  than  in  the 
punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con 
victed  :  Provided,  always,  That  any  person  escaping  into  the  same, 
from  whom  labor  or  service  is  lawfully  claimed  in  any  other  State, 
such  fugitive  may  be  lawfully  reclaimed,  and  conveyed  to  the  per 
son  claiming  his  or  her  labor  or  service  as  aforesaid  :  And  pro 
vided,  also,  That  the  said  provision  shall  not  be  construed  to  alter 
the  condition  or  civil  rights  of  any  person  now  held  to  service  or 
labor  in  the  said  Territory." 

\Annah,  i6th  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  947.] 


No.  37.     Thomas's  Amendment   (final  form) 

February  17,  1820 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  in  all  that  territory  ceded  by 
France  to  the  United  States,  under  the  name  of  Louisiana,  which 
lies  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  north  latitude, 
excepting  only  such  part  thereof  as  is  included  within  the  limits  of 
the  State  contemplated  by  this  act,  slavery  and  involuntary  servi 
tude,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the 
party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  be  and  is  hereby  for 
ever  prohibited  :  Provided  always,  That  any  person  escaping  into 
the  same,  from  whom  labor  or  service  is  lawfully  claimed  in  any 
State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States,  such  fugitive  may  be  law 
fully  reclaimed,  and  conveyed  to  the  person  claiming  his  or  her 
labor  or  service,  as  aforesaid. 

{_Annahy  i6th  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  427,  428.] 


1 820]  MISSOURI   ENABLING  ACT  223 

No.  38.      Report  of  the  Conference  Committee 

March  2,  1820 
\_House  of  Representatives^ 

Mr.  Holmes,  from  the  managers  appointed  on  the  part  of  this 
House,  to  attend  a  conference  with  the  managers  appointed  on 
the  part  of  the  Senate,  upon  the  subject-matter  of  the  disagreeing 
votes  of  the  two  Houses  on  the  amendments  proposed  by  the 
Senate  to  the  bill  of  this  House,  entitled  "  An  act  providing  for 
the  admission  of  the  State  of  Maine  into  the  Union,"  made  the 
following  report : 

1.  That  they  recommend  to  the  Senate  to  recede  from  their 
amendments  to  the  said  bill. 

2.  That  they  recommend  to  the  two  Houses  to  agree  to  strike 
out  [of]  the  fourth  section  of  the  bill  from  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  now  pending  in  the  Senate,  entitled  "  An  act  to  au 
thorize  the  people  of  Missouri  to  form  a  constitution  and  State 
government,  and  for  the  admission  of  such  State  into  the  Union 
on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States,"  the  following  proviso, 
in  the  following  words  :   [here  follows  the  Taylor  amendment.] 

And  that  the  following  provision  be  added  to  the  bill :  [here 
follows  the  Thomas  amendment.] 

[Annals,  i6th  Cong.,  1st  Sess.,  1576,  1577.] 


No.  39.      Missouri  Enabling  Act 

March  6,  1820 

An  Act  to  authorize  the  people  of  the  Missouri  territory  to  form  a 
constitution  and  state  government,  and  for  the  admission  of  such 
state  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states, 
and  to  prohibit  slavery  in  certain  territories. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  inhabi 
tants  of  that  portion  of  the  Missouri  territory  included  within  the 
boundaries  hereinafter  designated,  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  au 
thorized  to  form  for  themselves  a  constitution  and  state  govern- 


224  MISSOURI   COMPROMISE  [March  6 

ment,  and  to  assume  such  name  as  they  shall  deem  proper ;  and 
the  said  state,  when  formed,  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union, 
upon  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states,  in  all  respects 
whatsoever. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  state  shall  con 
sist  of  all  the  territory  included  within  the  following  boundaries, 
to  wit :  Beginning  in  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi  fiver,  on  the 
parallel  of  thirty-six  degrees  of  north  latitude ;  thence  west,  along 
that  parallel  of  latitude,  to  the  St.  Francois  river ;  thence  up,  and 
following  the  course  of  that  river,  in  the  middle  of  the  main  chan 
nel  thereof,  to  the  parallel  of  latitude  of  thirty-six  degrees  and 
thirty  minutes ;  thence  west,  along  the  same,  to  a  point  where  the 
said  parallel  is  intersected  by  a  meridian  line  passing  through  the 
middle  of  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  river,  where  the  same  empties 
into  the  Missouri  river,  thence,  from  the  point  aforesaid  north, 
along  the  said  meridian  line,  to  the  intersection  of  the  parallel  of 
latitude  which  passes  through  the  rapids  of  the  river  Des  Moines, 
making  the  said  line  to  correspond  with  the  Indian  boundary  line  ; 
thence  east,  from  the  point  of  intersection  last  aforesaid,  along 
the  said  parallel  of  latitude,  to  the  middle  of  the  channel  of  the 
main  fork  of  the  said  river  Des  Moines ;  thence  down  and  along 
the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  said  river  Des  Moines,  to 
the  mouth  of  the  same,  where  it  empties  into  the  Mississippi  river ; 
thence,  due  east,  to  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  Missis 
sippi  river  ;  thence  down,  and  following  the  course  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  in  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  thereof,  to  the  place  of 
beginning  :  .  .  . 

*********** 

SEC.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  all  that  territory 
ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States,  under  the  name  of  Louisi 
ana,  which  lies  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes 
north  latitude,  not  included  within  the  limits  of  the  state,  con 
templated  by  this  act,  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  otherwise 
than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  parties  shall  have 
been  duly  convicted,  shall  be,  and  is  hereby,  forever  prohibited  : 
Provided  always,  That  any  person  escaping  into  the  same,  from 
whom  labour  or  service  is  lawfully  claimed,  in  any  state  or  territory 
of  the  United  States,  such  fugitive  may  be  lawfully  reclaimed  and 
conveyed  to  the  person  claiming  his  or  her  labour  or  service  as 
aforesaid.  [£/.  s.  Stat.  at  Large,  III.,  545,  546,  548.] 


1 820]  CONSTITUTION  OF   MISSOURI  225 

No.  40.     Constitution  of  Missouri 

July  ig,  1820 

[ART.  III.]     SEC.  26.     The   general  assembly  shall   not   have 
power  to  pass  laws  — 

1.  For  the  emancipation  of  slaves  without  the  consent  of  their 
owners ;  or  without  paying  them,  before  such  emancipation,  a  full 
equivalent  for  such  slaves  so  emancipated  ;  and, 

2.  To  prevent  bona-fide  immigrants  to  this  State,  or  actual  set 
tlers  therein,  from  bringing  from  any  of  the  United  States,  or  from 
any  of  their  Territories,  such  persons  as  may  there  be  deemed  to 
be  slaves,  so  long  as  any  persons  of  the  same  description  are  al 
lowed  to  be  held  as  slaves  by  the  laws  of  this  State. 

They  shall  have  power  to  pass  laws  — 

1.  To  prohibit  the  introduction  into  this  State  of  any  slaves 
who  may  have  committed  any  high  crime  in  any  other  State  or 
Territory ; 

2.  To  prohibit  the  introduction  of  any  slave  for  the  purpose  of 
speculation,  or  as  an  article  of  trade  or  merchandise  ; 

3.  To  prohibit  the  introduction  of  any  slave,  or  the  offspring  of 
any  slave,  who  heretofore  may  have  been,  or  who  hereafter  may  be, 
imported  from  any  foreign  country  into  the  United  States,  or  any 
Territory  thereof,  in  contravention  of  any  existing  statute  of  the 
United  States ;  and, 

4.  To  permit  the  owners  of  slaves  to  emancipate  them,  saving 
the  right  of  creditors,  where  the  person  so  emancipating  will  give 
security  that  the  slave  so  emancipated  shall  not  become  a  public 
charge. 

It  shall  be  their  duty,  as  soon  as  may  be,  to  pass  such  laws  as 
may  be  necessary  — 

1.  To  prevent  free  negroes  end  [and]  mulattoes  from  coming 
to  and  settling  in  this  State,  under  any  pretext  whatsoever ;  and, 

2.  To  oblige  the  owners  of  slaves  to  treat  them  with  humanity, 
and  to  abstain  from  all  injuries  to  them  extending  to  life  or  limb. 

[Poore,  Federal  and  State  Constitutions  (ed.  1877),  II.,  1107,  1108.] 

Q 


226  TENURE  OF  OFFICE  ACT  [May  15 

No.  41.     Resolution  for  the  Admission  of 
Missouri 

March  2,  1821 

Resolution  providing  for  the  admission  of  the  State  of  Missouri 

into  the  Union,  on  a  certain  condition. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  Missouri  shall 
be  admitted  into  this  union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
states,  in  all  respects  whatever,  upon  the  fundamental  condition, 
that  the  fourth  clause  of  the  twenty-sixth  section  of  the  third  arti 
cle  of  the  constitution  submitted  on  the  part  of  said  state  to  Con 
gress,  shall  never  be  construed  to  authorize  the  passage  of  any  law, 
and  that  no  law  shall  be  passed  in  conformity  thereto,  by  which 
any  citizen,  of  either  of  the  states  in  this  Union,  shall  be  excluded 
from  the  enjoyment  of  any  of  the  privileges  and  immunities  to 
which  such 'citizen  is  entitled  under  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States  :  Provided,  That  the  legislature  of  the  said  state,  by  a  sol 
emn  public  act,  shall  declare  the  assent  of  the  said  state  to  the 
said  fundamental  condition,  and  shall  transmit  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  on  or  before  the  fourth  Monday  in  November 
next,  an  authentic  copy  of  the  said  act ;  upon  the  receipt  whereof, 
the  President,  by  proclamation,  shall  announce  the  fact ;  where 
upon,  and  without  any  further  proceeding  on  the  part  of  Congress, 
the  admission  of  the  said  state  into  this  Union  shall  be  considered 
as  complete. 

\U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  III.,  645.] 


No.   42.     Tenure  of  Office  Act 

May  15,   1820 

DECEMBER  16,  1819,  Senator  Mahlon  Dickerson  of  New  Jersey  submitted  a 
resolution  instructing  the  Committee  on  Finance  "  to  inquire  into  the  expe 
diency  of  so  far  altering  the  laws  for  appointing  collectors  of  the  customs  of 
the  United  States,  district  attorneys  of  the  United  States,  and  receivers  of 
public  moneys  for  lands  of  the  United  States,  .surveyors  of  the  public  lands, 
registers,  and  such  other  officers  as  they  may  think  proper,  as  to  have  those 
officers  respectively  appointed  for  limited  periods,  subject  to  removal  as  here 
tofore."  A  bill  in  conformity  with  the  resolution  was  reported  April  20,  and 


1 820]  TENURE  OF  OFFICE  ACT  22/ 

passed  the  Senate  May  8.  The  House  passed  the  bill  without  amendment, 
and  May  15  the  act  was  approved.  The  bill  seems  to  have  been  drafted  by 
Crawford,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and,  according  to  J.  Q.  Adams,  was 
brought  forward  in  the  interest  of  Crawford's  presidential  aspirations ;  it  was 
intended  also,  however,  to  ensure  greater  honesty  and  accountability  on  the 
part  of  officials  having  charge  of  government  funds.  The  act  contributed 
much  to  the  establishment  of  the  principle  of  rotation  in  office. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  III.,  582.  The- House  and 
Senate  Journals,  i6th  Cong.,  1st  Sess.,  show  the  proceedings,  but  there  is  no 
record  of  the  debates.  Attempts  in  the  Senate,  in  1826  and  1835,  to  rePeal 
the  law  called  out  elaborate  reports  from  Benton  and  Calhoun :  they  are 
printed  as  Sen.  Doc.  108  and  709,  23d  Cong.,  2d  Sess.  See  also  J.  Q. 
Adams's  Memoirs,  VII.,  424,  425;  Jefferson's  Works  (ed.  1854),  VII.,  190; 
Eaton,  in  Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  III.,  900,  901. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  from  and 
after  the  passing  of  this  act,  all  district  attorneys,  collectors  of 
the  customs,  naval  officers  and  surveyors  of  the  customs,  navy 
agents,  receivers  of  public  moneys  for  lands,  registers  of  the  land 
offices,  paymasters  in  the  army,  the  apothecary  general,  the  assist 
ant  apothecaries  general,  and  the  commissary  general  of  purchases, 
to  be  appointed  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
appointed  for  the  term  of  four  years,  but  shall  be  removable  from 
office  at  pleasure. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  commission  of  each 
and  every  of  the  officers  named  in  the  first  section  of  this  act,  now 
in  office,  unless  vacated  by  removal  from  office,  or  otherwise,  shall 
cease  and  expire  in  the  manner  following :  All  such  commissions, 
bearing  date  on  or  before  the  thirtieth  day  of  September,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  fourteen,  shall  cease  and  expire  on 
the  day  and  month  of  their  respective  dates,  which  shall  next  issue 
after  the  thirtieth  day  of  September  next ;  all  such  commissions, 
bearing  date  after  the  said  thirtieth  day  of  September,  in  the 
year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fourteen,  and  before  the 
first  day  of  October,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixteen, 
shall  cease  and  expire  on  the  day  and  month  of  their  respective 
dates,  which  shall  next  ensue  after  the  thirtieth  day  of  September, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-one.  And  all  other  such 
commissions  shall  cease  and  expire  at  the  expiration  of  the  term 
of  four  years  from  their  respective  dates. 

[The  remainder  of  the  act  relates  to  official  bonds  and  the 
recording  of  commissions.] 


228  MONROE   DOCTRINE  [Dec.  2 

No.    43.      Monroe's    Message    enunciating    the 
Monroe   Doctrine 

December  2,   1823 

THE  triumph  of  Napoleon  in  Spain  in  1808  was  followed  by  a  succession 
of  revolts  in  the  Spanish  colonies  in  America,  and  by  1821  all  the  colonies 
had  established  revolutionary  governments.  In  1823  France,  with  the  sanc 
tion  of  the  so-called  Holy  Alliance,  had  restored  Ferdinand  VII.  of  Spain  to 
his  throne;  and  later  in  the  year  another  meeting  of  the  allies  was  suggested 
to  consider  the  question  of  aiding  Spain  to  reduce  its  colonies  to  submission. 
In  the  meantime,  in  September,  1821,  a  Russian  ukase  had  asserted  the  claim 
of  that  country  to  all  the  Pacific  coast  of  North  America  north  of  the  5ist 
parallel,  and  forbidden  foreigners  to  trade  in  the  region.  The  claim  of  Russia 
was  opposed  by  both  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  A  proposal  from 
Great  Britain,  in  September,  1823,  "that  the  two  countries  should  unite  in  a 
declaration  against  European  intervention  in  the  colonies,"  was,  however, 
declined.  In  his  annual  message  of  Dec.  2,  1823,  Monroe,  in  discuss 
ing  the  relations  of  the  United  States  with  Russia,  Spain,  and  the  Spanish- 
American  colonies,  stated  the  policy  which  afterwards  came  to  be  known  as 
the  Monroe  doctrine.  The  portions  of  the  message  dealing  with  the  subject 
are  given  in  the  extracts  following. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  of  the  message  in  House  and  Senate  Journals,  i8th 
Cong.,  1st  Sess. ;  the  extracts  here  given  are  from  the  Senate  Journal,  1 1, 
21-23.  C»n  tne  origin  of  the  statements  in  the  message,  see  J.  Q.  Adams's 
Memoirs,  VI.;  Madison's  Writings  (ed.  1865),  III.,  339,  340;  Jefferson's 
Works  (ed.  1854),  VII.,  315-317.  Correspondence  relating  to  the  Russian 
treaty  of  1824  is  in  Amer.  State  Papers,  Foreign  Relations,  V.,  434-471;  the 
correspondence  with  Spain,  ib.,  V.,  368-428,  throws  light  on  the  condition  of 
the  colonies.  The  policy  stated  by  Monroe  had  been  frequently  enunciated, 
though  less  definitely,  before  1823;  interesting  extracts,  from  1787  onwards, 
are  collected  in  Amer.  History  Leaflets,  No.  4.  The  leading  discussions  of 
the  Monroe  doctrine  are  Gilman's  Monroe,  chap.  7  (with  valuable  bibliog 
raphy,  Appendix  IV.);  G.  F.  Tucker's  Monroe  Doctrine ;  Wharton's  Intern. 
Law  Digest  (ed.  1887),  I.,  268-298;  Snow's  American  Diplomacy,  237-294. 
See  also  G.  Koerner,  in  Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  II.,  898-900;  Rush's  Court  of 
London,  chap.  13. 

At  the  proposal  of  the  Russian  imperial  government,  made 
through  the  minister  of  the  Emperor  residing  here,  a  full  power  and 
instructions  have  been  transmitted  to  the  Minister  of  the  United 
States  at  St.  Petersburg!!,  to  arrange,  by  amicable  negotiation,  the 
respective  rights  and  interests  of  the  two  nations  on  the  northwest 
coast  of  this  continent.  A  similar  proposal  had  been  made  by  his 
Imperial  Majesty  to  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  which  has 


1823]  MONROE   DOCTRINE 

likewise  been  acceded  to.  The  government  of  the  United  States 
has  been  desirous,  by  this  friendly  proceeding,  of  manifesting  the 
great  value  which  they  have  invariably  attached  to  the  friendship 
of  the  Emperor,  and  their  solicitude  to  cultivate  the  best  under 
standing  with  his  government.  In  the  discussions  to  which  this 
interest  has  given  rise,  and  in  the  arrangements  by  which  they  may 
terminate,  the  occasion  has  been  judged  proper  for  asserting,  as  a 
principle  in  which  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  United  States  are 
involved,nhat  the  American  continents,  by  the  free  and  indepen 
dent  condition  which  they  have  assumed  and  maintain,  are  hence 
forth  not  to  be  considered  as  subjects  for  future  colonization  by 
any.  European  powers.^) 

*********** 

It  was  stated  at  the  commencement  of  the  last  session,  that  a 
great  effort  was  then  making  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  to  improve 
the  condition  of  the  people  of  those  countries,  and  that  it  ap 
peared  to  be  conducted  with  extraordinary  moderation.  It  need 
scarcely  be  remarked,  that  the  result  has  been,  so  far,  very  differ 
ent  from  what  was  then  anticipated.  Of  events  in  that  quarter 
of  the  globe,  with  which  we  have  so  much  intercourse,  and  from 
which  we  derive  our  origin,  we  have  always  been  anxious  and  in 
terested  spectators.  The  citizens  of  the  United  States  cherish 
sentiments  the  most  friendly,  in  favor  of  the  liberty  and  happiness 
of  their  fellow  men  on  that  side  of  the  Atlantic.  In  the  wars  of 
the  European  powers,  in  matters  relating  to  themselves,  we  have 
never  taken  any  part,  nor  does  it  comport  with  our  policy  so  to 
do.  It  is  only  when  our  rights  are  invaded,  or  seriously  menaced, 
that  we  resent  injuries,  or  make  preparation  for  our  defence. 
With  the  movements  in  this  hemisphere,  we  are,  of  necessity, 
more  immediately  connected,  and  by  causes  which  must  be  obvi 
ous  to  all  enlightened  and  impartial  observers.  The  political  sys 
tem  of  the  allied  powers  is  essentially  different,  in  this  respect, 
from  that  of  America.  This  difference  proceeds  from  that  which 
exists  in  their  respective  governments.  And  to  the  defence  of 
our  own,  which  has  been  achieved  by  the  loss  of  so  much  blood 
and  treasure,  and  matured  by  the  wisdom  of  their  most  enlightened 
citizens,  and  under  which  we  have  enjoyed  unexampled  felicity, 
this  whole  nation  is  devoted.  We  owe  it,  therefore,  to  candor, 
and  to  the  amicable  relations  existing  between  the  United  States 
and  those  powers,  to  declare,  that  we  should  consider  any  attempt 


230  MONROE  DOCTRINE  [Dec.  2 

on  their  part  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of  this  hemi 
sphere,  as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety.  (With  the  existing 
colonies  or  dependencies  of  any  European  power,  we  have  not 
interfered,  and  shall  not  interfere.  Bat  with  the  governments 
who  have  declared  their  independence,  and  maintained  it,  and 
whose  independence  we  have,  on  great  consideration,  and  on  just 
principles,  acknowledged,  we  could  not  view  any  interposition  for 
the  purpose  of  oppressing  them,  or  controlling,  in  any  other  man 
ner,  their  destiny,  by  any  European  power,  in  any  other  light  than 
as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition  towards  the 
United  States.^  In  the  war  between  those  new  governments  and 
Spain,  we  declared  our  neutrality  at  the  time  of  their  recognition, 
and  to  this  we  have  adhered,  and  shall  continue  to  adhere,  pro 
vided  no  change  shall  occur,  which,  in  the  judgment  of  the  com 
petent  authorities  of  this  government,  shall  make  a  corresponding 
change,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  indispensable  to  their 
security. 

The  late  events  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  shew  that  Europe  is  still 
unsettled.  Of  this  important  fact,  no  stronger  proof  can  be  ad 
duced  than  that  the  allied  powers  should  have  thought  it  proper, 
on  any  principle  satisfactory  to  themselves,  to  have  interposed,  by 
force,  in  the  internal  concerns  of  Spain.  To  what  extent  such 
interposition  may  be  carried,  on  the  same  principle,  is  a  question, 
to  which  all  independent  powers,  whose  governments  differ  from 
theirs,  are  interested ;  even  those  most  remote,  and  surely  none 
more  so  than  the  United  States.  Our  policy,  in  regard  to  Europe, 
which  was  adopted  at  an  early  stage  of  the  wars  which  have  so 
long  agitated  that  quarter  of  the  globe,  nevertheless  remains  the 
same,  which  is,  not  to  interfere  in  the  internal  concerns  of  any  of 
its  powers;  to  consider  the  government  de facto  as  the  legitimate 
government  for  us ;  to  cultivate  friendly  relations  with  it,  and  to 
preserve  those  relations  by  a  frank,  firm,  and  manly  policy ;  meet 
ing,  in  all  instances,  the  just  claims  of  every  power;  submitting 
to  injuries  from  none.  But,  in  regard  to  these  continents,  circum 
stances  are  eminently  and  conspicuously  different.  It  is  impossi 
ble  that  the  allied  powers  should  extend  their  political  system  to 
any  portion  of  either  continent,  without  endangering  our  peace 
and  happiness  :  nor  can  any  one  believe  that  our  Southern  Brethren, 
if  left  to  themselves,  would  adopt  it  of  their  own  accord.  It  is 
equally  impossible,  therefore,  that  we  should  behold  such  in- 


1823]  PROTEST   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA  231 

terposition,  in  any  form,  with  indifference.  If  we  look  to  the 
comparative  strength  and  resources  of  Spain  and  those  new  gov 
ernments,  and  their  distance  from  each  other,  it  must  be  obvious 
that  she  can  never  subdue  them.  It  is  still  the  true  policy  of  the 
United  States  to  leave  the  parties  to  themselves,  in  the  hope  that 
other  powers  will  pursue  the  same  course. 


No.  44.     Protest  of  South  Carolina  against  the 
Tariff  of  1828 

December  19,   1828 

THE  tariff  of  1828,  known  as  the  "tariff  of  abominations,"  was  especially 
obnoxious  to  the  South,  where  sentiment  in  favor  of  protection  was  rapidly 
losing  ground.  In  1827  the  "woollens  bill "  had  failed  only  by  the  casting  vote 
of  Vice-President  Calhoun  in  the  Senate;  and  the  act  of  1828,  with  its  hi^h 
duties,  seemed  to  the  South  to  indicate  the  adoption  of  protection  as  a  per 
manent  national  policy.  In  his  message  to  the  legislature,  in  November,  1828, 
Governor  Taylor  of  South  Carolina  denounced  the  tariff  act,  and  urged  the 
legislature  to  declare  it  unconstitutional,  and  to  provide  for  testing  its  validity 
in  the  courts.  The  committee  to  whom  the  matter  was  referred  made  an 
elaborate  report,  originally  drafted  by  Calhoun,  expounding  at  length  the  doc 
trine  of  nullification.  The  protest  here  given  forms  the  conclusion  of  the 
report.  The  report  is  known  as  the  "  South  Carolina  Exposition,"  and  was  at 
once  printed  and  widely  circulated. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Senate  Journal,  2oth  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  under  date 
of  Feb.  10,  1829.  The  "Exposition"  is  in  Calhoun's  Works  (ed.  1855),  VI., 
1-59.  The  remarks  of  Senators  Smith  and  Hayne  on  the  presentation  of  the 
protest  are  in  the  Cong.  Debates.  The  tariff  act  of  1828  called  out  many 
petitions  pro  and  con,  the  most  important  of  which  are  collected  in  Anier. 
State  Papers,  Finance,  V.  Niles^s  Register,  XXXV.,  gives  many  documents 
illustrating  the  course  of  the  excitement  in  the  South  during  1828.  On  the 
tariff  of  1828,  see  Taussig's  Tariff  History,  68-108  (same  article,  Pol.  Set. 
Quart.,  III.,  17-45);  on  the  "Exposition,"  see  Houston's  Nullification  in 
Sotith  Carolina,  chap.  5. 

The  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  South  Carolina, 
now  met  and  sitting  in  General  Assembly,  through  the  Honorable 
William  Smith,  and  the  Hon.  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  their  Representa 
tives  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  do,  in  the  name  and  on 
behalf  of  the  good  people  of  the  said  Commonwealth,  solemnly 
protest  against  the  system  of  protecting  duties,  lately  adopted  by 
the  Federal  Government,  for  the  following  reasons  :  — 


232  PROTEST  OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA  [Dec.  19 

1.  Because  the  good  people  of  this   Commonwealth  believe, 
that  the  powers  of  Congress  were  delegated  to   it,  in  trust,  for 
the  accomplishment  of  certain  specified  objects,  which  limit  and 
control  them  ;  and  that  every  exercise  of  them,  for  any  other  pur 
poses,  is  a  violation  of  the  constitution,  as  unwarrantable  as  the 
undisguised  assumption   of  substantive  independent  powers,  not 
granted  or  expressly  withheld. 

2.  Because  the  power  to  lay  duties  on  imports  is,  and  in  its 
very  nature  can  be,  only  a  means  of  effecting  the  objects  specified 
by  the  constitution  ;  since  no  free  government,  and  least  of  all  a 
government  of  enumerated  powers,  can,  of  right,  impose  any  tax, 
(any  more  than  a  penalty,)  which  is  not  at  once  justified  by  public 
necessity,  and  clearly  within  the  scope  and  purview  of  the  social 
compact ;  and  since  the  right  of  confining  appropriations  of  the 
public  money,  to  such  legitimate  and  constitutional  objects,  is  as 
essential  to  the  liberties  of   the  people,  as  their  unquestionable 
privilege  to  be  taxed  only  by  their  own  consent. 

3.  Because  they  believe  that  the  tariff  law,  passed  by  Congress 
at  its  last  session,  and  all  other  acts  of  which  the  principal  object 
is  the  protection  of  manufactures,  or  any  other  branch  of  domestic 
industry  —  if  they  be  considered  as  the  exercise  of  a  supposed 
power  in  Congress,  to  tax  the  people  at  its  own  good  will  and 
pleasure,  and  to  apply  the  money  raised  to  objects  not  specified 
in  the  constitution  —  is  a  violation  of  these  fundamental  princi 
ples,  a  breach  of  a  well  defined  trust,  and  a  perversion  of  thr;high 
powers  vested  in   the   federal  government,  for   federal  purposes 
only. 

4.  Because  such  acts,  considered  in  the  light  of  a  regulation 
of  commerce  are  equally  liable  to  objection  —  since,  although  the 
power  to  regulate  commerce  may,  like  other  powers,  be  exercised 
so  as  to  protect  domestic  manufactures,  yet  it  is  clearly  distin 
guished  from  a  power  to  do  so,  eo  nomine,  both  in  the  nature  of 
the   thing  and  in    the   common   acceptation  of  the   terms ;    and 
because  the  confounding  of  them  would  lead  to  the  most  extrava 
gant  results,  since  the  encouragement  of  domestic  industry  implies 
an  absolute  control  over  all  the  interests,  resources,  and  pursuits 
of  a  people,  and  is  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  any  other  than  a 
simple  consolidated  government. 

5.  Because,  from  the  contemporaneous  exposition  of  the  con 
stitution,  in  the  numbers  of  the  Federalist,  (which  is  cited  only 


1828]  PROTEST  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA  233 

because -the  Supreme  Court  has  recognised  its  authority,)  it  is 
clear,  that  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  was  considered,  by 
the  convention,  as  only  incidentally  connected  with  the  encour 
agement  of  agriculture  and  manufactures  :  and  because  the  power 
of  laying  imposts,  and  duties  on  imports,  was  not  understood  to 
justify,  in  any  case,  a  prohibition  of  foreign  commodities,  except 
as  a  means  of  extending  commerce,  by  coercing  foreign  nations 
to  a  fair  reciprocity  in  their  intercourse  with  us,  or  for  some  other 
bona  fide  commercial  purpose. 

6.  Because,  whilst  the   power  to  protect   manufactures  is  no 
where  expressly  granted  to  Congress,  nor  can  be  considered  as 
necessary  and  proper  to  carry  into  effect  any  specified  power,  it 
seems  to  be  expressly  reserved  to  the  States,  by  the  tenth  section 
of  the  first  article  of  the  constitution. 

7.  Because,  even  admitting  Congress  to  have  a  constitutional 
right  to  protect  manufactures,  by  the  imposition  of  duties,  or  by 
regulations  of  commerce,  designed  principally  for  that  purpose, 
yet  a  tariff,  of  which  the  operation  is  grossly  unequal  and  oppres 
sive,  is  such  an  abuse  of  power,  as  is  incompatible  with  the  prin 
ciples  of  a  free  government,  and  the  great  ends  of  civil  society, 
justice,  and  equality  of  rights  and  protection. 

8.  Finally,  because  South  Carolina,  from  her  climate,  situation, 
and  peculiar  institutions,  is,  and  must  ever  continue  to  be,  wholly 
dependant  upon  agriculture  and  commerce,  not  only  for  her  pros- 
peri4-;',  but  for  her  very  existence  as  a  State ;   because  the  abun 
dant  and  valuable  products  of  her  soil  —  the  blessings  by  which 
Divine  Providence  seems  to  have  designed  to  compensate  for  the 
great  disadvantages  under  which  she  suffers,  in  other  respects  — 
are  among  the  very  few  that  can  be  cultivated  with  any  profit  by 
slave  labor ;   and  if,  by  the  loss  of  her  foreign  commerce,  these 
products  should  be  confined  to  an  inadequate  market,  the   fate 
of  this  fertile  State  would  be  poverty  and  utter  desolation  —  her 
citizens,  in  despair,  would  emigrate  to  more  fortunate  regions,  and 
the  whole  frame  and  constitution  of  her  civil  polity  be  impaired 
and  deranged,  if  not  dissolved  entirely. 

Deeply  impressed  with  these  considerations,  the  Representatives 
of  the  good  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  anxiously  desiring  to 
live  in  peace  with  their  fellow-citizens,  and  to  do  all  that  in  them 
lies  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  the  union  of  the  States,  and  the 
liberties  of  which  it  is  the  surest  pledge  :  but  feeling  it  to  be  their 


234  PROTEST  OF  GEORGIA  [Dec.  20 

bounden  duty  to  expose  and  resist  all  encroachments  upon  the 
true  spirit  of  the  constitution,  lest  an  apparent  acquiescence  in 
the  system  of  protecting  duties  should  be  drawn  into  precedent, 
do,  in  the  name  of  the  Commonwealth  of  South  Carolina,  claim 
to  enter  upon  the  journals  of  the  Senate,  their  protest  against  it, 
as  unconstitutional,  oppressive,  and  unjust. 


No.  45.     Protest  of  Georgia  against  the  Tariff 

of   1828 

December  20,  1828 

Two  protests  from  the  legislature  of  Georgia  were  presented  to  Congress. 
One,  bearing  no  date,  was  read  in  the  Senate  Jan.  12,  1829,  and  ordered  to  be 
printed;  the  other,  bearing  date  of  Dec.  10,  1828,  but  not  approved  by  the 
governor  until  Dec.  20,  was  presented  in  the  House  Jan.  14,  1829.  The  latter, 
as  a  fuller  statement  of  the  position  of  Georgia,  is  here  given. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  House  Journal,  2Oth  Cong.,  2d  Sess.  The  protest 
presented  in  the  Senate  is  in  the  Senate  Journal and  the  Cong.  Debates. 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolutions  from  the 
States  of  South  Carolina  and  Ohio  have  had  the  same  under  their 
consideration. 

As  the  subjects  referred  involve  questions  of  the  deepest  interest, 
touching  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Federal  Government, 
the  sovereignty  of  the  States,  causes  of  complaint  for  infractions 
of  the  Constitution,  and  encroachments  by  the  General  Govern 
ment  upon  State  rights,  as  well  as  the  rights  of  the  States  to 
redress  their  wrongs,  your  committee  have  devoted  their  serious 
attention  and  grave  consideration  to  the  subject,  which  the  mag 
nitude  and  importance  of  the  questions  involved  require.  And 
from  the  view  which  your  committee  have  given  the  subject,  they 
concur  in  the  sentiments  and  resolutions  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  upon  most  of  the  subjects  involved  in  the  discussion. 

They  entertain  no  doubt  but  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  is  a  federal  compact,  formed  and  adopted  by  the  States  as 
sovereign  and  independent  communities. 

The  convention  which  formed  and  adopted  the  Constitution 
was  composed  of  members  elected  and  delegated  by,  and  deriving 
immediate  power  and  authority  from,  the  Legislatures  of  their 


1 828]  PROTEST  OF  GEORGIA  235 

respective  States.  Its  ratification  depended  upon  the  Legislatures 
of  the  States  —  each  reserving  the  right  of  assent  or  dissent,  with 
out  regard  to  population. 

By  the  Articles  of  Confederation  of  1778,  which  was  a  compact 
between  the  States,  there  was  a  special  reservation  of  all  rights 
of  sovereignty  and  independence  not  thereby  expressly  delegated, 
which  proves,  conclusively,  that,  prior  to  entering  into  that  com 
pact,  all  the  rights  of  sovereignty  and  independence  belonged  to 
the  States,  and  were  complete  in  them,  and  that  they  did  not 
intend  to  divest  themselves  of  any  of  those  rights,  except  such  as 
were  expressly  delegated. 

In  the  Constitution  of  1787,  the  powers  delegated  are  clearly 
defined  and  particularly  enumerated.  The  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  is  more  explicit.  It  declares  that  the  powers  not 
delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution  are  reserved 
to  the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  People. 

The  States  were  granting  powers  to  the  General  Government ; 
and  as  they  enumerated  the  powers  granted,  it  was  useless,  and 
would  have  been  superfluous,  to  have  made  special  reservations. 
The  affirmative  grant  of  powers  enumerated  operates  an  exclusion 
of  all  powers  not  enumerated. 

The  States,  in  forming  the  Constitution,  treated  with  each  other 
as  sovereign  and  independent  Governments,  expressly  acknow 
ledging  their  rights  of  sovereignty  ;  and  inasmuch  as  they  divested 
themselves  of  those  rights  only  which  were  expressly  delegated,  it 
follows,  as  a  legitimate  consequence,  that  they  are  still  sovereign 
and  independent  as  to  all  the  powers  not  granted. 

The  States  respectively,  therefore,  have,  in  the  opinion  of  your 
committee,  the  unquestionable  right,  in  case  of  any  infraction  of 
the  general  compact,  or  want  of  good  faith  in  the  performance 
of  its  obligations,  to  complain,  remonstrate,  and  even-  to  refuse 
obedience  to  any  measure  of  the  General  Government  manifestly 
against,  and  in  violation  of,  the  Constitution ;  and,  in  short,  to 
seek  redress  of  their  wrongs  by  all  the  means  rightfully  exercised 
by  a  sovereign  and  independent  Government.  Otherwise,  the 
Constitution  might  be  violated  with  impunity  and  without  redress, 
as  often  as  the  majority  might  think  proper  to  transcend  their 
powers,  and  the  party  injured  bound  to  yield  a  submissive  obedi 
ence  to  the  measure,  however  unconstitutional.  This  would  tend 
to  annihilate  all  the  sovereignty  and  independence  of  the  States, 


236  PROTEST  OF   GEORGIA  [Dec.  20 

and  to  consolidate  all  power  in  the  General  Government,  which 
never  was  designed  nor  intended  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution. 

Your  committee  are  also  of  opinion,  that  the  acts  of  the  General 
Government,  in  providing  for  the  general  welfare,  must  be  general 
in  their  operation,  and  promotive  of  the  general  good ;  not  the 
advancement  of  the  interest  of  any  particular  section  or  local 
interest,  to  the  injury  of  another. 

The  term  general  welfare  implies,  clearly,  that  the  means  used 
to  obtain  this  end  must  be  general  in  their  nature  and  tendency. 
Any  measures,  therefore,  having  for  their  object  sectional  advan 
tages  or  local  interests,  to  the  prejudice  of  another  portion  of  the 
community,  cannot  be  general,  and  are,  therefore,  contrary  to 
the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Constitution. 

It  is  believed  by  your  committee,  therefore,  that  the  tariff  laws 
of  the  United  States,  so  far  as  they  have  for  their  object  the 
protection  of  a  particular  branch  of  labor,  to  the  injury  of  the 
commercial  interest  of  the  country,  and  of  the  agricultural  interest 
of  the  Southern  States,  are  unconstitutional. 

For  the  same  reason,  Congress  have  not  the  right  to  appropriate 
the  moneys  of  the  United  States  for  the  improvement  or  benefit 
of  a  particular  section  of  the  country,  in  which  all  the  States 
would  not  have  a  common  interest  and  equal  benefit. 

If  Congress  is  invested  with  the  right  at  all,  she  is  invested  to 
an  unlimited  and  indefinite  extent,  and  may  exhaust  the  whole 
wealth  and  treasure  of  the  Government  in  the  promotion  of  the 
improvement  and  interest  of  particular  sections  of  the  country, 
to  the  injury  of  another.  In  fine,  that  she  may  make  one  portion 
of  the  country  tributary  to  another;  that  she  may  tax  the  com 
munity  to  enrich  or  aggrandize  a  particular  section,  and  make  the 
general  welfare  yield  to  a  particular  interest. 

But  if  it  be  true,  as  your  committee  maintain,  that  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  are  restricted  to  the  powers  expressly  enu 
merated,  it  is  equally  true  that  they  have  no  power  or  right  to 
pass  any  laws  but  such  as  may  be  necessary  and  proper  to  carry 
into  effect  the  powers  enumerated,  and  which  promote  the  general 
welfare  of  the  United  States. 

In  relation  to  the  right  of  Congress  to  interfere,  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  with  the  subject  of  slavery,  as  recognized  by  the 
laws  of  this  State,  your  committee  deem  it  improper  and  unneces 
sary  to  enter  into  a  discussion. 


1828]  PROTEST  OF  GEORGIA  237 

This  State  never  can,  and  never  will,  so  far  compromit  her 
interests  on  a  subject  of  such  deep  and  vital  concern  to  her  self- 
preservation,  as  to  suffer  this  question  to  be  brought  into  discus 
sion.  Non-interference  on  this  subject  was  the  sine  qua  non  on 
the  part  of  the  slave-holding  States,  in  forming  the  Union  and 
entering  into  the  Federal  Compact.  As  the  Southern  States 
would  then,  so  they  must  now,  or  hereafter,  consider  any  attempt 
to  interfere  with  this  delicate  subject  an  aggression,  as  having  a 
tendency  to  produce  revolt  and  insurrection  of  the  most  hideous 
character. 

These  States  must  view  with  jealousy  and  distrust  all  asso 
ciations  having  for  their  object  the  abolition  of  slavery.  The 
principles  propagated  by  the  enthusiastic  devotees  of  this  project 
are  calculated  to  have  the  most  pernicious  effects  —  exciting  false 
hopes  of  liberty ;  producing  discontent  and  dissatisfaction  in  the 
mind  of  the  otherwise  happy  and  contented  slave,  and  a  restless 
ness  for  emancipation,  when  the  actual  state  of  things  forbids  the 
possibility  of  it  at  present. 

The  Colonization  Society  is  considered  by  your  committee  as 
one  of  a  dangerous  character  in  this  respect.  Its  schemes  of 
colonization  are  vain  and  visionary.  Its  professed  objects  never 
can  be  accomplished  :  they  are  wholly  impracticable.  This  insti 
tution,  therefore,  should  not,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee, 
receive  the  support,  countenance,  or  patronage  of  Congress ;  and 
not  being  a  matter  of  national  interest,  the  Government  has  no 
right  to  take  it  under  its  protection,  or  make  appropriations  for 
its  support.  Your  committee  therefore  recommend  the  adoption 
of  the  following  resolutions  : 

Resolved,  That  this  Legislature  concur  with  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  South  Carolina,  in  the  resolutions  adopted  at  their 
December  session  in  1827,  in  relation  to  the  powers  of  the  General 
Government  and  State  rights. 

Resolved,  That  his  Excellency  the  Governor  be  requested  to 
transmit  copies  of  this  preamble  and  resolutions  to  the  Governors 
of  the  several  States,  with  a  request  that  the  same  be  laid  before 
the  Legislatures  of  their  respective  States  ;  an  1  also  to  our  Senators 
and  Representatives  in  Congress,  to  be  by  them  laid  before  Con 
gress  for  consideration. 


238  JACKSON'S  FIRST  MESSAGE  [Dec.  8 

No.   46.     The  Bank   Controversy :     Jackson's 
First  Annual  Message 

December  8,  1829 

THE  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  did  not  expire  until  1836, 
three  years  after  the  close  of  the  term  for  which  Jackson  had  been  elected;  it 
was  probable,  however,  that  the  bank  would  make  early  application  for  a 
renewal  of  its  privileges.  Jackson  undoubtedly  sympathized  with  those  who 
feared  the  political  and  economic  power  of  a  great  financial  monopoly;  the 
controversy  involving  the  branch  bank  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  however,  was 
probably  the  occasion  for  beginning  his  attack  on  the  bank,  which  he  did  in 
his  first  annual  message,  transmitted  to  Congress  Dec.  8,  1829.  In  the  House 
this  portion  of  the  message  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means, 
which  made  an  elaborate  report  April  13,  1830,  through  McDuffie  of  South 
Carolina,  sustaining  the  bank.  May  10  resolutions  offered  by  Potter  of  North 
Carolina,  against  paper  money  and  the  bank,  and  against  the  renewal  of  the 
charter,  were,  by  a  vote  of  89  to  66,  laid  on  the  table.  May  26  Wayne  of 
Georgia  submitted  resolutions  calling  on  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  a 
great  variety  of  information  about  the  conduct  and  business  of  the  bank;  on  the 
29th  these  were  disagreed  to.  In  the  Senate  the  Committee  on  Finance,  through 
Smith  of  Maryland,  reported,  March  29,  against  any  change  in  the  currency. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  of  the  message  in  House  and  Senate  Journals,  2ist 
Cong.,  ist  Sess.;  the  extract  here  given  is  from  the  House  Journal,  27,  28. 
For  the  discussions,  see  Cong.  Debates,  VI.  McDuffie's  report  is  printed  as 
House  Rep.  358 ;  it  is  also  in  Cong.  Debates,  VI.,  part  II.,  appendix,  104-133. 
Smith's  report  is  Senate  Rep.  104.  Documents  connected  with  the  Portsmouth 
branch  controversy  are  collected  in  Niles's  Register,  XXXVII.,  XXXVIII. ; 
Ingham's  "Address,"  in  his  own  defence,  is  in  ib.,  XLIL,  315,  316.  The 
bank  controversy  as  a  whole  is  treated  at  length  in  all  larger  histories  of  the 
period,  and  in  biographies  of  leading  statesmen  of  the  time.  Niles's  Register, 
XXXVII. -XLV.,  gives  invaluable  documentary  material.  Benton's  Abridg 
ment,  X.-XIL,  gives  full  reports  of  debates;  the  same  author's  Thirty  Years' 
Vieiv,  I.,  is  also  of  great  value.  See  further,  on  the  general  subject,  the  lives 
of  Jackson  by  Parton  and  Sumner;  J.  Q.  Adams's  Memoirs,  VIII.,  IX., 
passim;  Johnston,  in  Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  I.,  201-203;  Bolles's  Financial 
History  of  the  United  States,  II.,  317-358;  Burgess's  Middle  Period,  chaps.  9 
and  12.  Significant  extracts  from  documents  are  given  in  Amer.  History 
Leaflets,  No.  24. 

The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  expires  in  1836, 
and  its  stockholders  will  most  probably  apply  for  a  renewal  of  their 
privileges.  In  order  to  avoid  the  evils  resulting  from  precipitancy 
in  a  measure  involving  such  important  principles,  and  such  deep 
pecuniary  interests,  I  feel  that  I  cannot,  in  justice  to  the  parties 
interested,  too  soon  present  it  to  the  deliberate  consideration  of 


1829]  DEBATE  ON   FOOT'S   RESOLUTION  239 

the  Legislature  and  the  People.  Both  the  constitutionality  and 
the  expediency  of  the  law  creating  this  Bank  are  well  questioned 
by  a  large  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens  \  and  it  must  be  admitted 
by  all,  that  it  has  failed  in  the  great  end  of  establishing  a  uniform 
and  sound  currency. 

Under  these  circumstances,  if  such  an  institution  is  deemed 
essential  to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the  Government,  I  submit  to 
the  wisdom  of  the  Legislature  whether  a  national  one,  founded 
upon  the  credit  of  the  Government  and  its  revenues,  might  not  be 
devised,  which  would  avoid  all  constitutional  difficulties ;  and,  at 
the  same  time,  secure  all  the  advantages  to  the  Government  and 
country  that  were  expected  to  result  from  the  present  Bank. 


Debate  on  Foot's  Resolution 
1830 

DECEMBER  29,  1829,  Senator  Foot  of  Connecticut  submitted  a  resolution 
instructing  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  "  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of 
limiting,  for  a  certain  period,  the  sales  of  the  public  lands,  to  such  lands  only 
as  have  heretofore  been  offered  for  sale,  and  are  subject  to  entry  at  the  mini 
mum  price;  and,  also,  whether  the  office  of  Surveyor  General  and  Surveyors 
may  not  be  abolished  without  detriment  to  the  public  interest."  The  motion 
was  taken  up  Jan.  13,  1830,  and,  as  amended  by  Foot  Jan.  20,  was  before  the 
Senate  until  May  21,  when  it  was  laid  on  the  table.  The  discussion  covered 
a  wide  range  of  topics,  the  resolution  itself,  as  Webster  said,  being  almost  the 
only  subject  not  considered;  the  chief  interest  of  the  debate,  however,  lay  in 
the  discussion  of  the  nature  of  the  Union,  by  Webster  and  Hayne.  The  reso 
lution  was  taken  as  an  indication  of  hostility  on  the  part  of  the  East,  and 
particularly  New  England,  to  the  development  of  the  West;  and  the  South, 
bitterly  opposed  to  the  tariff  of  1828,  which  it  regarded  as  a  sectional  measure, 
was  ready  to  join  with  the  West  in  resisting  any  supposed  attempt  by  the  East 
to  control  the  national  policy.  Benton,  in  a  speech  Jan.  18,  charged  New 
England  with  "jealousy  of  the  West  and  a  desire  to  retard  its  growth."  Hayne 
followed  on  the  igih  with  a  speech  in  the  same  vein.  On  the  2Oth  Webster 
replied  to  Hayne,  defending  New  England  against  the  charge  of  opposition  to 
the  West.  On  the  2ist  Hayne  began  a  reply  to  Webster,  concluded  on  the 
25th,  in  the  course  of  which  he  expounded  with  approval  the  doctrines  of 
State  rights  and  nullification.  Webster's  reply  to  Hayne,  on  the  26th  and 
2yth,  enforced  the  national  view  of  the  Constitution,  and  compelled  Hayne  to 
declare  his  position  more  plainly;  this  he  did  on  the  2yth  in  a  speech  in  reply 
to  Webster.  Brief  concluding  remarks  by  Webster  closed  this  portion  of  the 
"  great  debate."  The  extracts  here  given  are  from  the  speeches  of  Jan.  26  and  27. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Cong.  Debates,  2ist  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  VI.,  Part  I., 
58-93,  passim.  The  debate  is  also  in  Nilefs  Register,  XXXVII.,  XXXVIII., 


240  DEBATE   ON    FOOT'S   RESOLUTION  [Jan.  26,  27 

and  Benton's  Abridgment,  X.  Webster's  speech  is  in  his  Works  (eel.  1857), 
III.,  248-347.  The  political  doctrines,  of  Webster  and  Hayne,  and  the  effects 
of  the  speeches,  are  discussed  at  length  in  general  histories  of  the  period.  See 
also  Curtis's  Life  of  Webster,  I.,  chap.  16;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  I., 
chap.  44;  Edward  Everett,  in  North  Amer.  Rev.,  XXXI.,  462-546;  Sargent's 
Public  Men  and  Events,  I.,  169-175;  Johnston,  in  Lalor 's  Cyclopedia,  II., 

234,  235. 

-«• 

No.  47.     Webster's  Reply  to  Hayne 

January  26  and  27,  1830 

There  yet  remains  to  be  performed,  [said  Mr.  W.]  by  far  the 
most  grave  and  important  duty,  which  I  feel  to  be  devolved 
on  me,  by  this  occasion.  It  is  to  state,  and  to  defend,  what  I 
conceive  to  be  the  true  principles  of  the  constitution  under  which 
we  are  here  assembled.  .  .  . 

I  understand  the  honorable  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  to 
maintain,  that  it  is  a  right  of  the  State  Legislatures  to  interfere, 
whenever,  in  their  judgment,  this  Government  transcends  its 
constitutional  limits,  and  to  arrest  the  operation  of  its  laws. 

I  understand  him  to  maintain  this  right,  as  a  right  existing  under 
the  constitution ;  not  as  a  right  to  overthrow  it,  on  the  ground  of 
extreme  necessity,  such  as  would  justify  violent  revolution. 

I  understand  him  to  maintain  an  authority,  on  the  part  of  the 
States,  thus  to  interfere,  for  the  purpose  of  correcting  the  exercise 
of  power  by  the  General  Government,  of  checking  it,  and  of  com 
pelling  it  to  conform  to  their  opinion  of  the  extent  of  its  powers. 

I  understand  him  to  maintain  that  the  ultimate  power  of  judg 
ing  of  the  constitutional  extent  of  its  own  authority  is  not  lodged 
exclusively  in  the  General  Government,  or  any  branch  of  it;  but 
that,  on  the  contrary,  the  States  may  lawfully  decide  for  them 
selves,  and  each  State  for  itself,  whether,  in  a  given  case,  the  act 
of  the  General  Government  transcends  its  power. 

I  understand  him  to  insist  that,  if  the  exigency  of  the  case,  in 
the  opinion  of  any  State  Government,  require  it,  such  State  Govern 
ment  may,  by  its  own  sovereign  authority,  annul  an  act  of  the  General 
Government,  which  it  deems  plainly  and  palpably  unconstitutional. 

This  is  the  sum  of  what  I  understand  from  him  to  be  the  South 
Carolina  doctrine  ;  and  the  doctrine  which  he  maintains.  I  pro 
pose  to  consider  it,  and  compare  it  with  the  constitution.  .  .  . 

What  he  contends  for,  is,  that  it  is  constitutional  to  interrupt 


1830]  WEBSTER'S   REPLY  TO   HAYNE  24! 

the  administration  of  the  constitution  itself,  in  the  hands  of  those 
who  are  chosen  and  sworn  to  administer  it,  by  the  direct  inter 
ference,  in  form  of  law,  of  the  States,  in  virtue  of  their  sovereign 
capacity.  The  inherent  right  in  the  people  to  reform  their  gov 
ernment,  I  do  not  deny ;  and  they  have  another  right,  and  that 
is,  to  resist  unconstitutional  laws,  without  overturning  the  Govern 
ment.  It  is  no  doctrine  of  mine,  that  unconstitutional  laws  bind 
the  people.  The  great  question  is,  whose  prerogative  is  it  to 
decide  on  the  constitutionality  or  unconstitutionality  of  the  laws  ? 
On  that,  the  main  debate  hinges.  The  proposition,  that,  in  case 
of  a  supposed  violation  of  the  constitution  by  Congress,  the  States 
have  a  constitutional  right  to  interfere,  and  annul  the  law  of  Con 
gress,  is  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman  :  I  do  not  admit  it.  If 
the  gentleman  had  intended  no  more  than  to  assert  the  right 
of  revolution,  for  justifiable  cause,  he  would  have  said  only  what 
all  agree  to.  But  I  cannot  conceive  that  there  can  be  a  middle 
course,  between  submission  to  the  laws,  when  regularly  pronounced 
constitutional,  on  the  one  hand,  and  open  resistance,  which  is 
revolution,  or  rebellion,  on  the  other.  I  say,  the  right  of  a  State 
to  annul  a  law  of  Congress,  cannot  be  maintained  but  on  the 
ground  of  the  unalienable  right  of  man  to  resist  oppression  ;  that 
is  to  say,  upon  the  ground  of  revolution.  I  admit  that  there  is  an 
ultimate  violent  remedy,  above  the  constitution,  and  in  defiance 
of  the  constitution,  which  may  be  resorted  to,  when  a  revolution 
is  to  be  justified.  But  I  do  not  admit  that,  under  the  constitu 
tion,  and  in  conformity  with  it,  there  is  any  mode  in  which  a  State 
Government,  as  a  member  of  the  Union,  can  interfere  and  stop 
the  progress  of  the  General  Government,  by  force  of  her  own 
laws,  under  any  circumstances  whatever. 

This  leads  us  to  inquire  into  the  origin  of  this  Government,  and 
the  source  of  its  power.  Whose  agent  is  it?  Is  it  the  creature 
of  the  State  Legislatures,  or  the  creature  of  the  people?  If  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  be  the  agent  of  the  State  Gov 
ernments,  then  they  may  control  it,  provided  they  can  agree  in 
the  manner  of  controlling  it ;  if  it  be  the  agent  of  the  people,  then 
the  people  alone  can  control  it,  restrain  it,  modify,  or  reform  it. 
It  is  observable  enough,  that  the  doctrine  for  which  the  honorable 
gentleman  contends  leads  him  to  the  necessity  of  maintaining,  not 
only  that  this  General  Government  is  the  creature  of  the  States, 
but  that  it  is  the  creature  of  each  of  the  States,  severally ;  so  that 

R 


242  DEBATE  ON   FOOT'S    RESOLUTION  [Jan.  26,  27 

each  may  assert  the  power,  for  itself,  of  determining  whether  it 
acts  within  the  limits  of  its  authority.  It  is  the  servant  of  four 
and  twenty  masters,  of  different  wills  and  different  purposes,  and 
yet  bound  to  obey  all.  This  absurdity  (for  it  seems  no  less)  arises 
from  a  misconception  as  to  the  origin  of  this  Government  and  its 
true  character.  It  is,  sir,  the  people's  constitution,  the  people's 
Government ;  made  for  the  people ;  made  by  the  people ;  and 
answerable  to  the  people.  The  people  of  the  United  States  have 
declared  that  this  constitution  shall  be  the  supreme  law.  We 
must  either  admit  the  proposition,  or  dispute  their  authority. 
The  States  are,  unquestionably,  sovereign,  so  far  as  their  sover 
eignty  is  not  affected  by  this  supreme  law.  But  the  State  Legislat 
ures,  as  political  bodies,  however  sovereign,  are  yet  not  sovereign 
over  the  people.  So  far  as  the  people  have  given  power  to  the 
General  Government,  so  far  the  grant  is  unquestionably  good,  and 
the  Government  holds  of  the  people,  and  not  of  the  State  Gov 
ernments.  We  are  all  agents  of  the  same  supreme  power,  the 
people.  The  General  Government  and  the  State  Governments 
derive  their  authority  from  the  same  source.  Neither  can,  in  rela 
tion  to  the  other,  be  called  primary,  though  one  is  definite  and 
restricted,  and  the  other  general  and  residuary.  The  National 
Government  possesses  those  powers  which  it  can  be  shown  the 
people  have  conferred  on  it,  and  no  more.  All  the  rest  belongs 
to  the  State  Governments  or  to  the  people  themselves.  So  far  as 
the  people  have  restrained  State  sovereignty,  by  the  expression 
of  their  will,  in  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  so  far,  it 
must  be  admitted,  State  sovereignty  is  effectually  controlled.  I 
do  not  contend  that  it  is,  or  ought  to  be,  controlled  farther.  The 
sentiment  to  which  I  have  referred,  propounds  that  State  sover 
eignty  is  only  to  be  controlled  by  its  own  "  feeling  of  justice ; " 
that  is  to  say,  it  is  not  to  be  controlled  at  all :  for  one  who  is  to 
follow  his  own  feelings  is  under  no  legal  control.  Now,  however 
men  may  think  this  ought  to  be,  the  fact  is,  that  the  people  of  the 
United  States  have  chosen  to  impose  control  on  State  sovereign 
ties.  There  are  those,  doubtless,  who  wish  they  had  been  left 
without  restraint ;  but  the  constitution  has  ordered  the  matter 
differently.  To  make  war,  for  instance,  is  an  exercise  of  sov 
ereignty  ;  but  the  constitution  declares  that  no  State  shall  make 
war.  To  coin  money  is  another  exercise  of  sovereign  power ; 
but  no  State  is  at  liberty  to  coin  money.  Again,  the  constitution 


3830]  WEBSTER'S   REPLY  TO   HAYNE  243 

says  that  no  sovereign  State  shall  be  so  sovereign  as  to  make  a 
treaty.  These  prohibitions,  it  must  be  confessed,  are  a  control 
on  the  State  sovereignty  of  South  Carolina,  as  well  as  of  the  other 
States,  which  does  not  arise  "  from  her  own  feelings  of  honorable 
justice."  Such  an  opinion,  therefore,  is  in  defiance  of  the  plainest 
provisions  of  the  constitution.  .  .  . 

It  so  happens  that,  at  the  very  moment  when  South  Carolina 
resolves  that  the  tariff  laws  are  unconstitutional,  Pennsylvania  and 
Kentucky  resolve  exactly  the  reverse.  They  hold  those  laws  to 
be  both  highly  proper  and  strictly  constitutional.  And  now,  sir, 
how  does  the  honorable  member  propose  to  deal  with  this  case? 
How  does  he  relieve  us  from  this  difficulty,  upon  any  principle  of 
his  ?  His  construction  gets  us  into  it ;  how  does  he  propose  to 
get  us  out? 

In  Carolina,  the  tariff  is  a  palpable,  deliberate  usurpation ; 
Carolina,  therefore,  may  nullify  it,  and  refuse  to  pay  the  duties. 
In  Pennsylvania,  it  is  both  clearly  constitutional,  and  highly  expe 
dient  ;  and  there,  the  duties  are  to  be  paid.  And  yet  we  live 
under  a  Government  of  uniform  laws,  and  under  a  constitution, 
too,  which  contains  an  express  provision,  as  it  happens,  that  all 
duties  shall  be  equal  in  all  the  States  !  Does  not  this  approach 
absurdity  ? 

If  there  be  no  power  to  settle  such  questions,  independent  of 
either  of  the  States,  is  not  the  whole  Union  a  rope  of  sand  ?  Are 
we  not  thrown  back  again,  precisely  upon  the  old  Confederation? 

It  is  too  plain  to  be  argued.  Four-and-twenty  interpreters  of 
constitutional  law,  each  with  a  power  to  decide  for  itself,  and  none 
with  authority  to  bind  anybody  else,  and  this  constitutional  law 
the  only  bond  of  their  union  !  What  is  such  a  state  of  things,  but 
a  mere  connexion  during  pleasure ;  or,  to  use  the  phraseology  of 
the  times,  during  feeling?  And  that  feeling,  too,  not  the  feeling 
of  the  people,  who  established  the  constitution,  but  the  feeling  of 
the  State  Governments.  .  .  . 

I  must  now  beg  to  ask,  sir,  whence  is  this  supposed  right  of  the 
states  derived  ?  Where  do  they  find  the  power  to  interfere  with 
the  laws  of  the  Union  ?  Sir,  the  opinion  which  the  honorable 
gentleman  maintains,  is  a  notion  founded  in  a  total  misapprehen 
sion,  in  my  judgment,  of  the  origin  of  this  Government,  and  of  the 
foundation  on  which  it  stands.  I  hold  it  to  be  a  popular  Govern 
ment,  erected  by  the  people  ;  those  who  administer  it,  responsible 


244  DEBATE  ON    FOOT'S    RESOLUTION          [Jan.  26,  27 

to  the  people  ;  and  itself  capable  of  being  amended  and  modified, 
just  as  the  people  may  choose  it  should  be.  It  is  as  popular,  just 
as  truly  emanating  from  the  people,  as  the  State  Governments. 
It  is  created  for  one  purpose ;  the  State  Governments  for  another. 
It  has  its  own  powers  ;  they  have  theirs.  There  is  no  more  author 
ity  with  them  to  arrest  the  operation  of  a  law  of  Congress,  than 
with  Congress  to  arrest  the  operation  of  their  laws.  We  are  here 
to  administer  a  constitution  emanating  immediately  from  the 
people,  and  trusted,  by  them,  to  our  administration.  It  is  not 
the  creature  of  the  State  Governments.  It  is  of  no  moment  to 
the  argument,  that  certain  acts  of  the  State  Legislatures  are  neces 
sary  to  fill  our  seats  in  this  body.  That  is  not  one  of  their  original 
State  powers  —  a  part  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  State.  It  is  a 
duty  which  the  people,  by  the  constitution  itself,  have  imposed 
on  the  State  Legislatures ;  and  which  they  might  have  left  to  be 
performed  elsewhere  if  they  had  seen  fit.  So  they  have  left  the 
choice  of  President  with  electors ;  but  all  this  does  not  affect  the 
proposition  that  this  whole  Government  —  President,  Senate,  and 
House  of  Representatives  —  is  a  popular  Government.  It  leaves 
it  still  all  its  popular  character.  The  Governor  of  a  State,  (in 
some  of  the  States)  is  chosen,  not  directly  by  the  people,  but  by 
those  who  are  chosen  by  the  people,  for  the  purpose  of  perform 
ing,  among  other  duties,  that  of  electing  a  Governor.  Is  the 
Government  of  the  State,  on  that  account,  not  a  popular  Govern 
ment?  This  Government,  sir,  is  the  independent  offspring  of  the 
popular  will.  It  is  not  the  creature  of  State  Legislatures.  Nay, 
more,  if  the  whole  truth  must  be  told,  the  people  brought  it  into 
existence,  established  it,  and  have  hitherto  supported  it,  for  the 
very  purpose,  amongst  others,  of  imposing  certain  salutary  restraints 
on  State  sovereignties.  The  States  cannot  now  make  war ;  they 
cannot  contract  alliances ;  they  cannot  make,  each  for  itself,  sep 
arate  regulations  of  commerce ;  they  cannot  lay  imposts ;  they 
cannot  coin  money.  If  this  constitution,  sir,  be  the  creature  of 
State  Legislatures,  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  has  obtained  a 
strange  control  over  the  volitions  of  its  creators. 

The  people,  then,  sir,  erected  this  Government.  They  gave  it 
a  constitution ;  and  in  that  constitution  they  have  enumerated  the 
powers  which  they  bestow  on  it.  They  have  made  it  a  limited 
Government.  They  have  defined  its  authority.  They  have  re 
strained  it  to  the  exercise  of  such  powers  as  are  granted ;  and  all 


1830]  WEBSTER'S   REPLY  TO   HAYNE  245 

others,  they  declare,  are  reserved  to  the  States  or  the  people. 
But,  sir,  they  have  not  stopped  here.  If  they  had,  they  would 
have  accomplished  but  half  their  work.  No  definition  can  be  so 
clear  as  to  avoid  possibility  of  doubt ;  no  limitation  so  precise,  as 
to  exclude  all  uncertainty.  Who  then  shall  construe  this  grant 
of  the  people  ?  Who  shall  interpret  their  will,  where  it  may  be 
supposed  they  have  left  it  doubtful  ?  With  whom  do  they  repose 
this  ultimate  right  of  deciding  on  the  powers  of  the  Government  ? 
Sir,  they  have  settled  all  this  in  the  fullest  manner.  They  have 
left  it  with  the  Government  itself,  in  its  appropriate  branches. 
Sir,  the  very  chief  end,  the  main  design,  for  which  the  whole 
constitution  was  framed  and  adopted  was,  to  establish  a  Govern 
ment  that  should  not  be  obliged  to  act  through  State  agency,  or 
depend  on  State  opinion  and  State  discretion.  The  people  had 
had  quite  enough  of  that  kind  of  government,  under  the  Con 
federacy.  Under  that  system,  the  legal  action,  the  application  of 
law  to  individuals,  belonged  exclusively  to  the  States.  Congress 
could  only  recommend  ;  their  acts  were  not  of  binding  force,  till 
the  States  had  adopted  and  sanctioned  them?  Are  we  in  that 
condition  still?  Are  we  yet  at  the  mercy  of  State  discretion,  and 
State  construction  ?  Sir,  if  we  are,  then  vain  will  be  our  attempt 
to  maintain  the  constitution  under  which  we  sit.  But,  sir,  the 
people  have  wisely  provided,  in  the  constitution  itself,  a  proper, 
suitable  mode  and  tribunal  for  settling  questions  of  constitutional 
law.  There  are,  in  the  constitution,  grants  of  powers  to  Congress, 
and  restrictions  on  these  powers.  There  are,  also,  prohibitions 
on  the  States.  Some  authority  must,  therefore,  necessarily  exist, 
having  the  ultimate  jurisdiction  to  fix  and  ascertain  the  interpreta 
tion  of  these  grants,  restrictions,  and  prohibitions.  The  consti 
tution  has,  itself,  pointed  out,  ordained,  and  established,  that 
authority.  How  has  it  accomplished  this  great  and  essential  end  ? 
By  declaring,  sir,  that  "  the  constitution  and  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of 
the  land,  anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding." 

This,  sir,  was  the  first  great  step.  By  this,  the  supremacy  of 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  is  declared.  The 
people  so  will  it.  No  State  law  is  to  be  valid  which  comes  in 
conflict  with  the  constitution  or  any  law  of  the  United  States 
passed  in  pursuance  of  it.  But  who  shall  decide  this  question 


246  DEBATE  ON   FOOT'S   RESOLUTION          [Jan.  26,  27 

of  interference?  To  whom  lies  the  last  appeal?  This,  sir,  the 
constitution  itself  decides  also,  by  declaring  "  that  the  judicial 
power  shall  extend  to  all  cases  arising  under  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States."  These  two  provisions,  sir,  cover  the 
whole  ground.  They  are,  in  truth,  the  key-stone  of  the  arch. 
With  these,  it  is  a  constitution ;  without  them,  it  is  a  confederacy. 
In  pursuance  of  these  clear  and  express  provisions,  Congress 
established,  at  its  very  first  session,  in  the  Judicial  Act,  a  mode 
for  carrying  them  into  full  effect,  and  for  bringing  all  questions 
of  constitutional  power  to  the  final  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
It  then,  sir,  became  a  Government.  It  then  had  the  means  of 
self  protection ;  and,  but  for  this,  it  would,  in  all  probability,  have 
been  now  among  things  which  are  past.  Having  constituted  the 
Government,  and  declared  its  powers,  the  people  have  further 
said,  that,  since  somebody  must  decide  on  the  extent  of  these 
powers,  the  Government  shall  itself  decide  ;  subject,  always,  like 
other  popular  governments,  to  its  responsibility  to  the  people. 
And  now,  sir,  I  repeat,  how  is  it  that  a  State  Legislature  acquires 
any  power  to  interfere  ?  Who  or  what  gives  them  the  right  to  say 
to  the  people,  "  we,  who  are  your  agents  and  servants  for  one 
purpose,  will  undertake  to  decide  that  your  other  agents  and  ser 
vants,  appointed  by  you  for  another  purpose,  have  transcended 
the  authority  you  gave  them?"  The  reply  would  be,  I  think,  not 
impertinent:  "Who  made  you  a  judge  over  another's  servants? 
To  their  own  masters  they  stand  or  fall." 

Sir,  I  deny  this  power  of  State  Legislatures  altogether.  It  can 
not  stand  the  test  of  examination.  Gentlemen  may  say  that,  in 
an  extreme  case,  a  State  Government  might  protect  the  people 
from  intolerable  oppression.  Sir,  in  such  a  case,  the  people 
might  protect  themselves,  without  the  aid  of  the  State  Govern 
ments.  Such  a  case  warrants  revolution.  It  must  make,  when  it 
comes,  a  law  for  itself.  A  nullifying  act  of  a  State  Legislature 
cannot  alter  the  case,  nor  make  resistance  any  more  lawful.  .  .  . 

To  avoid  all  possibility  of  being  misunderstood,  allow  me  to 
repeat  again,  in  the  fullest  manner,  that  I  claim  no  powers  for  the 
Government  by  forced  or  unfair  construction.  I  admit,  that  it  is 
a  Government  of  strictly  limited  powers,  of  enumerated,  specified, 
and  particularized  powers ;  and  that  whatsoever  is  not  granted,  is 
withheld.  But  notwithstanding  all  this,  and  however  the  grant 
of  powers  may  be  expressed,  its  limit  and  extent  may  yet,  in  some 


1830]  WEBSTER'S   REPLY  TO    HAYNE  247 

cases,  admit  of  doubt ;  and  the  General  Government  would  be 
good  for  nothing,  it  would  be  incapable  of  long  existing,  if  some 
mode  had  not  been  provided,  in  which  those  doubts,  as  they 
should  arise,  might  be  peaceably,  but  authoritatively,  solved.  .  .  . 

Direct  collision,  therefore,  between  force  and  force,  is  the 
unavoidable  result  of  that,  remedy  for  the  revision  of  unconstitu 
tional  laws  which  the  gentleman  contends  for.  It  must  happen  in 
the  very  first  case  to  which  it  is  applied.  Is  not  this  the  plain 
result?  To  resist,  by  force,  the  execution  of  a  law,  generally,  is 
treason.  Can  the  courts  of  the  United  States  take  notice  of  the 
indulgence  of  a  State  to  commit  treason?  The  common  saying 
that  a  State  cannot  commit  treason  herself,  is  nothing  to  the  pur 
pose.  Can  she  authorize  others  to  do  it?  If  John  Fries  had 
produced  an  act  of  Pennsylvania,  annulling  the  law  of  Congress, 
would  it  have  helped  his  case?  Talk  about  it  as  we  will,  these 
doctrines  go  the  length  of  revolution.  They  are  incompatible 
with  any  peaceable  administration  of  the  Government.  They  lead 
directly  to  disunion  and  civil  commotion ;  and  therefore  it  is,  that, 
at  their  commencement,  when  they  are  first  found  to  be  main 
tained  by  respectable  men,  and  in  a  tangible  form,  I  enter  my 
public  protest  against  them  all.  .  .  . 

But,  sir,  what  is  this  danger,  and  what  the  grounds  of  it  ?  Let 
it  be  remembered  that  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  is  not 
unalterable.  It  is  to  continue  in  its  present  form  no  longer  than 
the  people,  who  established  it,  shall  choose  to  continue  it.  If  they 
shall  become  convinced  that  they  have  made  an  injudicious  or 
inexpedient  partition  and  distribution  of  power,  between  the  State 
Governments  and  the  General  Government,  they  can  alter  that 
distribution  at  will. 

If  any  thing  be  found  in  the  national  constitution,  either  by 
original  provision,  or  subsequent  interpretation,  which  ought  not 
to  be  in  it,  the  people  know  how  to  get  rid  of  it.  If  any  con 
struction  be  established,  unacceptable  to  them,  so  as  to  become, 
practically,  a  part  of  the  constitution,  they  will  amend  it  at  their 
own  sovereign  pleasure.  But  while  the  people  choose  to  maintain 
it  as  it  is ;  while  they  are  satisfied  with  it,  and  refuse  to  change  it, 
who  has  given,  or  who  can  give,  to  the  State  Legislatures,  a  right 
to  alter  it,  either  by  interference,  construction,  or  otherwise? 
Gentlemen  do  not  seem  to  recollect  that  the  people  have  any 
power  to  do  anything  for  themselves ;  they  imagine  there  is  no 


248  DEBATE  ON   FOOT'S    RESOLUTION  [Jan.  26,  27 

safety  for  them  any  longer  than  they  are  under  the  close  guardian 
ship  of  the  State  Legislatures.  Sir,  the  people  have  not  trusted 
their  safety,  in  regard  to  the  general  constitution,  to  these  hands. 
They  have  required  other  security,  and  taken  other  bonds.  They 
have  chosen  to  trust  themselves,  first,  to  the  plain  words  of  the 
instrument,  and  to  such  construction  as  the  Government  itself,  in 
doubtful  cases,  should  put  on  its  own  powers,  under  their  oaths 
of  office,  and  subject  to  their  responsibility  to  them  :  just  as  the 
people  of  a  State  trust  their  own  State  Governments  with  a  similar 
power.  Secondly,  they  have  reposed  their  trust  in  the  efficacy 
of  frequent  elections,  and  in  their  own  power  to  remove  their  own 
servants  and  agents,  whenever  they  see  cause.  Thirdly,  they  have 
reposed  trust  in  the  Judicial  power,  which,  in  order  that  it  might 
be  trust-worthy,  they  have  made  as  respectable,  as  disinterested, 
and  as  independent  as  was  practicable.  Fourthly,  they  have  seen 
fit  to  rely,  in  case  of  necessity,  or  high  expediency,  on  their  known 
and  admitted  power  to  alter  or  amend  the  constitution,  peaceably 
and  quietly,  whenever  experience  shall  point  out  defects  or  imper 
fections.'  And,  finally,  the  people  of  the  United  States  have,  at 
no  time,  in  no  way,  directly  or  indirectly,  authorized  any  State 
Legislature  to  construe  or  interpret  their  high  instrument  of  Gov 
ernment  ;  much  less  to  interfere,  by  their  own  power,  to  arrest  its 
course  and  operation.  .  .  . 

I  have  thus  stated  the  reasons  of  my  dissent  to  the  doctrines 
which  have  been  advanced  and  maintained.  I  am  conscious,  sir, 
of  having  detained  you  and  the  Senate  much  too  long.  I  was 
drawn  into  the  debate  with  no  previous  deliberation,  such  as  is 
suited  to  the  discussion  of  so  grave  and  important  a  subject.  But 
it  is  a  subject  of  which  my  heart  is  full,  and  I  have  not  been 
willing  to  suppress  the  utterance  of  its  spontaneous  sentiments. 
I  cannot,  even  now,  persuade  myself  to  relinquish  it,  without 
expressing,  once  more,  my  deep  conviction,  that,  since  it  respects 
nothing  less  than  the  union  of  the  States,  it  is  of  most  vital  and 
essential  importance  to  the  public  happiness.  I  profess,  sir,  in 
my  career,  hitherto,  to  have  kept  steadily  in  view  the  prosperity 
and  honor  of  the  whole  country,  and  the  preservation  of  our 
Federal  Union.  It  is  to  that  Union  we  owe  our  safety  at  home, 
and  our  consideration  and  dignity  abroad.  It  is  to  that  Union 
that  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  whatever  makes  us  most  proud 
of  our  country.  That  Union  we  reached  only  by  the  discipline  of 


1830]  WEBSTER'S   REPLY   TO   HAYNE  249 

our  virtues  in  the  severe  school  of  adversity.  It  had  its  origin  in 
the  necessities  of  disordered  finance,  prostrate  commerce,  and 
ruined  credit.  Under  its  benign  influences,  these  great  interests 
immediately  awoke,  as  from  the  dead,  and  sprang  forth  with  new 
ness  of  life.  Every  year  of  its  duration  has  teemed  with  fresh 
proofs  of  its  utility  and  its  blessings ;  and,  although  our  territory 
has  stretched  out  wider  and  wider,  and  our  population  spread 
farther  and  farther,  they  have  not  outrun  its  protection  or  its 
benefits.  It  has  been  to  us  all  a  copious  fountain  of  national, 
social,  and  personal  happiness.  I  have  not  allowed  myself,  sir,  to 
look  beyond  the  Union,  to  see  what  might  lie  hidden  in  the  dark 
recess  behind.  I  have  not  coolly  weighed  the  chances  of  pre 
serving  liberty,  when  the  bonds  that  unite  us  together  shall  be 
broken  asunder.  I  have  not  accustomed  myself  to  hang  over  the 
precipice  of  disunion,  to  see  whether,  with  my  short  sight,  I  can 
fathom  the  depth  of  the  abyss  below;  nor  could  I  regard  him  as  a 
safe  counsellor,  in  the  affairs  of  this  Government,  whose  thoughts 
should  be  mainly  bent  on  considering,  not  how  the  Union  should 
be  best  preserved,  but  how  tolerable  might  be  the  condition  of 
the  people  when  it  shall  be  broken  up  and  destroyed.  While  the 
Union  lasts,  we  have  high,  exciting,  gratifying  prospects  spread 
out  before  us,  for  us  and  our  children.  Beyond  that,  L  seek  not 
to  penetrate  the  veil.  God  grant  that,  in  my  day,  at  least,  that 
curtain  may  not  rise.  God  grant  that,  on  my  vision,  never  may 
be  opened  what  lies  behind.  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to 
behold,  for  the  last  time,  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I  not  see  him 
shining  on  the  broken  and  dishonored  fragments  of  a  once  glo 
rious  Union ;  on  States  dissevered,  discordant,  belligerent ;  on  a 
land  rent  with  civil  feuds,  or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in  fraternal 
blood  !  Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance,  rather,  behold 
the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  republic,  now  known  and  honored 
throughout  the  earth,  still  full  high  advanced,  its  arms  and  tro 
phies  streaming  in  their  original  lustre,  not  a  stripe  erased  or  pol 
luted,  nor  a  single  star  obscured,  bearing  for  its  motto  no  such 
miserable  interrogatory  as,  What  is  all  this  worth?  Nor  those 
other  words  of  delusion  and  folly,  Liberty  first,  and  Union  after 
wards  :  but  every  where,  spread  all  over  in  characters  of  living 
light,  blazing  on  all  its  ample  folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea  and 
over  the  land,  and  in  every  wind  under  the  whole  heavens,  that 
other  sentiment,  dear  to  every  true  American  heart — Liberty  and 
Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable  ! 


25O  DEBATE  ON  FOOT'S   RESOLUTION  [Jan.  27 

No.   48.     Hayne's  Reply  to  Webster 

January  27,  1830 

...  It  cannot  be  doubted,  and  is  not  denied,  that,  before  the 
formation  of  the  constitution,  each  State  was  an  independent  sov 
ereignty,  possessing  all  the  rights  and  powers  appertaining  to  inde 
pendent  nations  ;  nor  can  it  be  denied  that,  after  the  constitution 
was  formed,  they  remained  equally  sovereign  and  independent,  as 
to  all  powers  not  expressly  delegated  to  the  Federal  Government. 
This  would  have  been  the  case,  even  if  no  positive  provision  to 
that  effect  had  been  inserted  in  that  instrument.  But  to  remove 
all  doubt,  it  is  expressly  declared,  by  the  tenth  article  of  the  amend 
ments  of  the  constitution,  that  "the  powers  not  delegated  to  the 
United  States  by  the  constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States, 
or  [are]  reserved  to  the  States,  respectively,  or  to  the  people."  The 
true  nature  of  the  Federal  constitution,  therefore,  is,  (in  the  lan 
guage  of  Mr.  Madison)  "  a  compact  to  which  the  states  are  parties  " 
—  a  compact  by  which  each  State,  acting  in  its  sovereign  capacity, 
has  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  other  States,  by  which 
they  have  consented  that  certain  designated  powers  shall  be  exer 
cised  by  the  United  States,  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  instru 
ment.  Nothing  can-  be  clearer,  than  that,  under  such  a  system, 
the  Federal  Government,  exercising  strictly  delegated  powers,  can 
have  no  right  to  act  beyond  the  pale  of  its  authority,  and  that  all 
such  acts  are  void.  A  State,  on  the  contrary,  retaining  all  powers 
not  expressly  given  away,  may  lawfully  act  in  all  cases  where  she 
has  not  voluntarily  imposed  restrictions  on  herself.  Here,  then,  is 
a  case  of  a  compact  between  sovereigns ;  and  the  question  arises, 
What  is  the  remedy  for  a  clear  violation  of  its  express  terms  by 
one  of  the  parties?  And  here  the  plain  obvious  dictate  of  com 
mon  sense  is  in  strict  conformity  with  the  understanding  of  man 
kind,  and  the  practice  of  nations  in  all  analogous  cases ;  "  that, 
where  resort  can  be  had  to  no  common  superior,  the  parties  to 
the  compact  must,  themselves,  be  the  rightful  judges  whether  the 
bargain  has  been  pursued  or  violated."  (Madison's  Report,  p.  20.) 
When  it  is  insisted  by  the  gentleman  that  one  of  the  parties  (the 
Federal  Government)  "  has  the  power  of  deciding  ultimately  and 
conclusively  upon  the  extent  of  its  own  authority,"  I  ask  for  the 
grant  of  such  a  power.  I  call  upon  the  gentleman  to  show  it  to 


1830]  HAYNE'S   REPLY  TO   WEBSTER  25 1 

me  in  the  constitution.  It  is  not  to  be  found  there.  If  it  is  to  be 
inferred  from  the  nature  of  the  compact,  I  aver  that  not  a  single 
argument  can  be  urged  in  support  of  such  an  inference,  in  favor 
of  the  Federal  Government,  which  would  not  apply,  with  at  least 
equal  force,  in  favor  of  a  State.  All  sovereigns  are  of  necessity 
equal ;  and  any  one  State,  however  small  in  population  or  terri 
tory,  has  the  same  rights  as  the  rest,  just  as  the  most  insignificant 
nation  in  Europe  is  as  much  sovereign  as  France,  or  Russia,  or 
England.  .  .  . 

I  have  already  shown  that  all  sovereigns  must,  as  such,  be  equal. 
It  only  remains  therefore  to  inquire  whether  the  States  have  sur 
rendered  their  sovereignty,  and  consented  to  reduce  themselves  to 
mere  corporations.  The  whole  form  and  structure  of  the  Federal 
Government,  the  opinions  of  the  framers  of  the  constitution,  and 
the  organization  of  the  State  Governments,  demonstrate  that, 
though  the  States  have  surrendered  certain  specific  powers,  they 
have  not  surrendered  their  sovereignty.  They  have  each  an  inde 
pendent  Legislature,  Executive,  and  Judiciary,  and  exercise  juris 
diction  over  the  lives  and  property  of  their  citizens.  They  have, 
it  is  true,  voluntarily  restrained  themselves  from  doing  certain  acts, 
but,  in  all  other  respects,  they  are  as  omnipotent  as  any  indepen 
dent  nation  whatever.  Here,  however,  we  are  met  by  the  argu 
ment,  that  the  constitution  was  not  formed  by  the  States  in  their 
sovereign  capacity,  but  by  the  people ;  and  it  is  therefore  inferred 
that,  the  Federal  Government  being  created  by  all  the  people, 
must  be  supreme ;  and  though  it  is  not  contended  that  the  con 
stitution  may  be  rightfully  violated,  yet  it  is  insisted  that  from  the 
decision  of  the  Federal  Government  there  can  be  no  appeal.  It 
is  obvious  that  this  argument  rests  on  the  idea  of  State  inferiority. 
Considering  the  Federal  Government  as  one  whole,  and  the  States 
merely  as  component  parts,  it  follows,  of  course,  that  the  former  is 
as  much  superior  to  the  latter  as  the  whole  is  to  the  parts  of  which 
it  is  composed.  Instead  of  deriving  power  by  delegation  from  the 
States  to  the  Union,  this  scheme  seems  to  imply  that  the  individual 
States  derive  their  power  from  the  United  States,  just  as  petty  cor 
porations  may  exercise  so  much  power,  and  no  more,  as  their  supe 
rior  may  permit  them  to  enjoy.  This  notion  is  entirely  at  variance 
with  all  our  conceptions  of  State  rights,  as  those  rights  were  under 
stood  by  Mr.  Madison  and  others,  at  the  time  the  constitution  was 
framed.  I  deny  that  the  constitution  was  framed  by  the  people 


252  DEBATE  ON   FOOT'S   RESOLUTION  [Jan.  27 

in  the  sense  in  which  that  word  is  used  on  the  other  side,  and  in 
sist  that  it  was  framed  by  the  States  acting  in  their  sovereign  capac 
ity.  When,  in  the  preamble  of  the  constitution,  we  find  the  words 
"we  the  people  of  the  United  States,"  it  is  clear  they  can  only 
relate  to  the  people  as  citizens  of  the  several  states,  because  the 
Federal  Government  was  not  then  in  existence. 

We  accordingly  find,  in  every  part  of  that  instrument,  that  the 
people  are  always  spoken  of  in  that  sense.  Thus,  in  the  second 
section  of  the  first  article  it  is  declared,  that  "  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  shall  be  composed  of  members  chosen  every  second 
year,  by  the  people  of  the  several  States."  To  show  that,  in 
entering  into  this  compact,  the  States  acted  in  their  sovereign 
capacity,  and  not  merely  as  parts  of  one  great  community,  what 
can  be  more  conclusive  than  the  historical  fact  that,  when  every 
State  had  consented  to  it  except  one,  she  was  not  held  to  be 
bound?  .  .  . 

But,  the  gentleman  insists  that  the  tribunal  provided  by  the 
constitution  for  the  decision  of  controversies  between  the  States 
and  the  Federal  Government,  is  the  Supreme  Court.  And  here 
again  I  call  for  the  authority  on  which  the  gentleman  rests  the 
assertion,  that  the  Supreme  Court  has  any  jurisdiction  whatever 
over  questions  of  sovereignty  between  the  States  and  the  United 
States.  When  we  look  into  the  constitution  we  do  not  find  it 
there.  I  put  entirely  out  of  view  any  act  of  Congress  on  the  sub 
ject.  We  are  not  looking  into  laws,  but  the  constitution. 

It  is  clear  that  questions  of  sovereignty  are  not  the  proper  sub 
jects  of  judicial  investigation.  They  are  much  too  large,  and  of 
too  delicate  a  nature,  to  be  brought  within  the  jurisdiction  of  a 
court  of  justice.  .  .  .  When  it  is  declared  that  the  constitution, 
and  laws  of  the  United  States  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  shall 
be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  it  is  manifest  that  no  indication  is 
given  either  as  to  the  power  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  bind  the 
States  by  its  decisions,  nor  as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued  in  the 
event  of  laws  being  passed  not  in  pursuance  of  the  constitution.  .  .  . 

...  If  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  can  take  cog 
nizance  of  such  a  question,  so  can  the  Supreme  Courts  of  the 
States.  But,  sir,  can  it  be  supposed  for  a  moment,  that,  when  the 
States  proceeded  to  enter  into  the  compact,  called  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States,  they  could  have  designed,  nay,  that  they 
could,  under  any  circumstances,  have  consented  to  leave  to  a 


1830]  HAYNE'S   REPLY  TO   WEBSTER  253 

court  to  be  created  by  the  Federal  Government,  the  power  to 
decide,  finally,  on  the  extent  of  the  powers  of  the  latter,  and  the 
limitations  on  the  powers  of  the  former?  If  it  had  been  designed 
to  do  so,  it  would  have  been  so  declared,  and  assuredly  some  pro 
vision  would  have  been  made  to  secure,  as  umpires,  a  tribunal 
somewhat  differently  constituted  from  that  whose  appropriate 
duties  is  the  ordinary  administration  of  justice.  But  to  prove,  as 
I  think  conclusively,  that  the  Judiciary  were  not  designated  to  act 
as  umpires,  it  is  only  necessary  to  observe  that,  in  a  great  majority 
of  cases,  that  court  could  manifestly  not  take  jurisdiction  of  the 
matters  in  dispute.  .  .  . 

No  doubt  can  exist,  that,  before  the  States  entered  into  the 
compact,  they  possessed  the  right,  to  the  fullest  extent,  of  deter 
mining  the  limits  of  their  own  powers  —  it  is  incident  to  all  sov 
ereignty.  Now,  have  they  given  away  that  right,  or  agreed  to 
limit  or  restrict  it  in  any  respect?  Assuredly  not.  They  have 
agreed  that  certain  specific  powers  shall  be  exercised  by  the  Fed 
eral  Government ;  but  the  moment  that  government  steps  beyond 
the  limits  of  its  charter,  the  right  of  the  States  "  to  interpose  for 
arresting  the  progress  of  the  evil,  and  for  maintaining,  within  their 
respective  limits,  the  authorities,  rights,  and  liberties,  appertaining 
to  them,"  is  as  full  and  complete  as  it  was  before  the  constitution 
was  formed.  It  was  plenary  then,  and  never  having  been  surren 
dered,  must  be  plenary  now.  But  what  then,  asks  the  gentleman  ? 
A  State  is  brought  into  collision  with  the  United  States,  in  relation 
to  the  exercise  of  unconstitutional  powers  :  who  is  to  decide 
between  them  ?  Sir,  it  is  the  common  case  of  difference  of  opin 
ion  between  sovereigns  as  to  the  true  construction  of  a  compact. 
Does  such  a  difference  of  opinion  necessarily  produce  war?  No. 
And  if  not,  among  rival  nations,  why  should  it  do  so  among  friendly 
States  ?  In  all  such  cases,  some  mode  must  be  devised  by  mutual 
agreement,  for  settling  the  difficulty  ;  and  most  happily  for  us,  that 
mode  is  clearly  indicated  in  the  constitution  itself,  and  results,  in 
deed,  from  the  very  form  and  structure  of  the  Government.  The 
creating  power  is  three-fourths  of  the  States.  By  their  decision, 
the  parties  to  the  compact  have  agreed  to  be  bound,  even  to  the 
extent  of  changing  the  entire  form  of  the  Government  itself;  and 
it  follows,  of  necessity,  that,  in  case  of  a  deliberate  and  settled  dif 
ference  of  opinion  between  the  parties  to  the  compact,  as  to  the 
extent  of  the  powers  of  either,  resort  must  be  had  to  their  common 


254  DEBATE   ON   FOOT'S   RESOLUTION  [Jan.  27 

superior  —  (that  power  which  may  give  any  character  to  the 
constitution  they  may  think  proper)  viz  :  three-fourths  of  the 
States.  .  .  . 

But  it  has  been  asked,  why  not  compel  a  State,  objecting  to 
the  constitutionality  of  a  law,  to  appeal  to  her  sister  States,  by  a 
proposition  to  amend  the  constitution  ?  I  answer,  because  such 
a  course  would,  in  the  first  instance,  admit  the  exercise  of  an  un 
constitutional  authority,  which  the  States  are  not  bound  to  submit 
to,  even  for  a  day,  and  because  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that 
any  redress  could  ever  be  obtained  by  such  an  appeal,  even  if  a 
State  were  at  liberty  to  make  it.  ... 

The  gentleman  has  called  upon  us  to  carry  out  our  scheme  prac 
tically.  Now,  sir,  if  I  am  correct  in  my  view  of  this  matter,  then 
it  follows,  of  course,  that  the  right  of  a  State  being  established,  the 
Federal  Government  is  bound  to  acquiesce  in  a  solemn  decision  of 
a  State,  acting  in  its  sovereign  capacity,  at  least  so  far  as  to  make 
an  appeal  to  the  people  for  an  amendment  to  the  constitution. 
This  solemn  decision  of  a  State  (made  either  through  its  Legislat 
ure,  or  a  convention,  as  may  be  supposed  to  be  the  proper  organ  of 
its  sovereign  will  —  a  point  I  do  not  propose  now  to  discuss)  binds 
the  Federal  Government,  under  the  highest  constitutional  obliga 
tion,  not  to  resort  to  any  means  of  coercion  against  the  citizens  of 
the  dissenting  State.  How,  then,  can  any  collision  ensue  between 
the  Federal  and  State  Governments,  unless,  indeed,  the  former 
should  determine  to  enforce  the  law  by  unconstitutional  means  ? 
What  could  the  Federal  Government  do,  in  such  a  case  ?  Resort, 
says  the  gentleman,  to  the  courts  of  justice.  Now,  can  any  man 
believe  that,  in  the  face  of  a  solemn  decision  of  a  State,  that  an 
act  of  Congress  is  "  a  gross,  palpable,  and  deliberate  violation  of 
the  constitution,"  and  the  interposition  of  its  sovereign  authority 
to  protect  its  citizens  from  the  usurpation,  that  juries  could  be 
found  ready  merely  to  register  the  decrees  of  the  Congress,  wholly 
regardless  of  the  unconstitutional  character  of  their  acts?  Will 
the  gentleman  contend  that  juries  are  to  be  coerced  to  find  ver 
dicts  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet?  .  .  . 

Sir,  if  Congress  should  ever  attempt  to  enforce  any  such  laws, 
they  would  put  themselves  so  clearly  in  the  wrong,  that  no  one 
could  doubt  the  right  of  the  State  to  exert  its  protecting 
power.  .  .  . 


1830]  WEBSTER'S   CONCLUDING   REMARKS  255 

No.  49.     Webster's   Concluding  Remarks 

January  27,  1830 

A  few  words,  Mr.  President,  on  this  constitutional  argument, 
which  the  honorable  gentleman  has  labored  to  reconstruct. 

His  argument  consists  of  two  propositions,  and  an  inference. 
His  propositions  are  — 

1.  That  the  Constitution  is  a  compact  between  the  States. 

2.  That  a  compact  between  two,  with  authority  reserved  to 
one  to  interpret  its  terms,  would  be  a  surrender  to  that  one,  of 
all  power  whatever. 

3.  Therefore,  (such  is  his  inference)  the  General  Government 
does  not  possess  the  authority  to  construe  its  own  powers. 

Now,  sir,  who  does  not  see,  without  the  aid  of  exposition  or 
detection,  the  utter  confusion  of  ideas,  involved  in  this,  so  elabo 
rate  and  systematic  argument  ? 

The  constitution,  it  is  said,  is  a  compact  between  States ;  the 
States,  then,  and  the  States  only,  are  parties  to  the  compact.  How 
comes  the  General  Government  itself  a  party?  Upon  the  hon 
orable  gentleman's  hypothesis,  the  General  Government  is  the 
result  of  the  compact,  the  creature  of  the  compact,  not  one  of  the 
parties  to  it.  Yet  the  argument,  as  the  gentleman  has  now  stated 
it,  makes  the  Government  itself  one  of  its  own  creators.  It  makes 
it  a  party  to  that  compact  to  which  it  owes  its  own  existence. 

For  the  purpose  of  erecting  the  constitution  on  the  basis  of 
a  compact,  the  gentleman  considers  the  States  as  parties  to  that 
compact ;  but  as  soon  as  his  compact  is  made,  then  he  chooses  to 
consider  the  General  Government,  which  is  the  offspring  of  that 
compact,  not  its  offspring,  but  one  of  its  parties ;  and  so,  being  a 
party,  has  not  the  power  of  judging  on  the  terms  of  compact.  Pray, 
sir,  in  what  school  is  such  reasoning  as  this  taught  ? 

If  the  whole  of  the  gentleman's  main  proposition  were  conceded 
to  him,  that  is  to  say  —  if  I  admit  for  the  sake  of  the  argument, 
that  the  constitution  is  a  compact  between  States,  the  inferences 
which  he  draws  from  that  proposition  are  warranted  by  no  just 
reason.  Because,  if  the  constitution  be  a  compact  between 
States,  still,  that  constitution,  or  that  compact,  has  established  a 
Government,  with  certain  powers  ;  and  whether  it  be  one  of  those 
powers,  that  it  shall  construe  and  interpret  for  itself  the  terms  of 


DEBATE   ON   FOOT'S   RESOLUTION  [Jan.  27 

the  compact,  in  doubtful  cases,  is  a  question  which  can  only  be 
decided  by  looking  to  the  compact,  and  inquiring  what  provisions 
it  contains  on  this  point.  Without  any  inconsistency  with  natural 
reason,  the  Government,  even  thus  created,  might  be  trusted  with 
this  power  of  construction.  The  extent  of  its  powers,  therefore, 
must  still  be  sought  for  in  the  instrument  itself. 

If  the  old  confederation  had  contained  a  clause,  declaring  that 
resolutions  of  the  Congress  should  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land, 
any  State  law  or  constitution  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  and 
that  a  committee  of  Congress,  or  any  other  body  created  by  it, 
should  possess  judicial  powers,  extending  to  all  cases  arising  under 
resolutions  of  Congress,  then  the  power  of  ultimate  decision  would 
have  been  vested  in  Congress,  under  the  confederation,  although 
that  confederation  was  a  compact  between  states ;  and  for  this 
plain  reason,  that  it  would  have  been  competent  to  the  States,  who 
alone  were  parties  to  the  compact,  to  agree  who  should  decide  in 
cases  of  dispute  arising  on  the  construction  of  the  compact. 

For  the  same  reason,  sir,  if  I  were  now  to  concede  to  the 
gentleman  his  principal  propositions,  viz.  that  the  constitution  is 
a  compact  between  States,  the  question  would  still  be,  what  pro 
vision  is  made,  in  this  compact,  to  settle  points  of  disputed  con 
struction,  or  contested  power,  that  shall  come  into  controversy? 
And  this  question  would  still  be  answered,  and  conclusively  an 
swered,  by  the  constitution  itself.  While  the  gentleman  is  con 
tending  against  construction,  he  himself  is  setting  up  the  most 
loose  and  dangerous  construction.  The  constitution  declares  that 
the  laws  of  Congress  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.*  No 
construction  is  necessary  here.  It  declares,  also,  with  equal  plain 
ness  and  precision,  that  the  judicial  power  of  the  United  States 
shall  extend  to  every  case  arising  under  the  laws  of  Congress. 
This  needs  no  construction.  Here  is  a  law,  then,  which  is 
declared  to  be  supreme ;  and  here  is  a  power  established,  which 
is  to  interpret  that  law.  Now,  sir,  how  has  the  gentleman  met 
this  ?  Suppose  the  constitution  to  be  a  compact,  yet  here  are  its 
terms,  and  how  does  the  gentleman  get  rid  of  them  ?  He  cannot 
argue  the  seal  off  the  bond,  nor  the  words  out  of  the  instrument. 
Here  they  are  —  what  answer  does  he  give  to  them?  None  in 
the  world,  sir,  except  that  the  effect  of  this  would  be  to  place  the 

*  In  Webster's  Works  (ed.  1857)  this  passage  reads,  "the  laws  of  Congress 
passed  in  pursuance  of  the  constitution,"  etc.  —  ED. 


1830]  WEBSTER'S  CONCLUDING   REMARKS  257 

States  in  a  condition  of  inferiority  ;  and  because  it  results,  from 
the  very  nature  of  things,  there  being  no  superior,  that  the  parties 
must  be  their  own  judges  !  Thus  closely  and  cogently  does  the 
honorable  gentleman  reason  on  the  words  of  the  constitution. 
The  gentleman  says,  if  there  be  such  a  power  of  final  decision  in 
the  General  Government,  he  asks  for  the  grant  of  that  power. 
Well,  sir,  I  show  him  the  grant  —  I  turn  him  to  the  very  words  — 
I  show  him  that  the  laws  of  Congress  are  made  supreme ;  and 
that  the  judicial  power  extends,  by  express  words,  to  the  inter 
pretation  of  these  laws.  Instead  of  answering  this,  he  retreats 
into  the  general  reflection,  that  it  must  result,  from  the  nature  of 
things,  that  the  States,  being  parties,  must  judge  for  themselves. 

I  have  admitted,  that,  if  the  constitution  were  to  be  considered 
as  the  creature  of  the  State  Governments,  it  might  be  modified, 
interpreted,  or  construed,  according  to  their  pleasure.  But,  even 
in  that  case,  it  would  be  necessary  that  they  should  agree.  One, 
alone,  could  not  interpret  it  conclusively ;  one,  alone,  could  not 
construe  it ;  one,  alone,  could  not  modify  it.  Yet  the  gentleman's 
doctrine  is,  that  Carolina,  alone,  may  construe  and  interpret  that 
compact  which  equally  binds  all,  and  gives  equal  rights  to  all. 

So  then,  sir,  even  supposing  the  constitution  to  be  a  compact 
between  the  States,  the  gentleman's  doctrine,  nevertheless,  is  not 
maintainable ;  because,  first,  the  General  Government  is  not  a 
party  to  that  compact,  but  a  Government  established  by  it,  and 
vested  by  it  with  the  powers  of  trying  and  deciding  doubtful 
questions  ;  and,  secondly,  because,  if  the  constitution  be  regarded 
as  a  compact,  not  one  State  only,  but  all  the  States,  are  parties  to 
that  compact,  and  one  can  have  no  right  to  fix  upon  it  her  own 
peculiar  construction. 

So  much,  sir,  for  the  argument,  even  if  the  premises  of  the 
gentleman  were  granted,  or  could  be  proved.  But,  sir,  the  gen 
tleman  has  failed  to  maintain  his  leading  proposition.  He  has 
not  shown,  it  cannot  be  shown,  that  the  constitution  is  a  compact 
between  State  Governments.  The  constitution  itself,  in  its  very 
front,  refutes  that  proposition  :  it  declares  that  it  is  ordained  and 
established  by  the  people  of  the  United  States.  So  far  from  say 
ing  that  it  is  established  by  the  Governments  of  the  several  States, 
it  does  not  even  say  that  it  is  established  by  the  people  of  the 
several  States ;  but  it  pronounces  that  it  is  established  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States  in  the  aggregate.  The  gentleman 


258  DEBATE  ON   FOOT'S   RESOLUTION  [Jan.  27 

says,  it  must  mean  no  more  than  that  the  people  of  the  several 
States,  taken  collectively,  constitute  the  people  of  the  United 
States  ;  be  it  so,  but  it  is  in  this,  their  collective  capacity ;  it  is  as  all 
the  people  ol  the  United  States  that  they  establish  the  constitution.* 
So  they  declare  ;  and  words  cannot  be  plainer  than  the  words  used. 

When  the  gentleman  says  the  constitution  is  a  compact  between 
the  States,  he  uses  language  exactly  applicable  to  the  old  con 
federation.  He  speaks  as  if  he  were  in  Congress  before  1789. 
He  describes  fully  that  old  state  of  things  then  existing.  The 
confederation  was,  in  strictness,  a  compact;  the  States,  as  States, 
were  parties  to  it.  We  had  no  other  General  Government.  But 
that  was  found  insufficient,  and  inadequate  to  the  public  exigen 
cies.  The  people  were  not  satisfied  with  it,  and  undertook  to 
establish  a  better.  They  undertook  to  form  a  General  Govern 
ment,  which  should  stand  on  a  new  basis  —  not  a  confederacy, 
not  a  league,  not  a  compact  between  States,  but  a  constitution ;  a 
popular  Government,  founded  in  popular  election,  directly  respon 
sible  to  the  people  themselves,  and  divided  into  branches,  with 
prescribed  limits  of  power,  and  prescribed  duties.  They  ordained 
such  a  Government ;  they  gave  it  the  name  of  a  constitution,  and 
therein  they  established  a  distribution  of  powers  between  this, 
their  General  Government,  and  their  several  State  Governments. 
When  they  shall  become  dissatisfied  with  this  distribution,  they 
can  alter  it.  Their  own  power  over  their  own  instrument  remains. 
But,  until  they  shall  alter  it,  it  must  stand  as  their  will,  and  is 
equally  binding  on  the  General  Government  and  on  the  States. 

The  gentleman,  sir,  finds  analogy,  where  I  see  none.  He 
likens  it  to  the  case  of  a  treaty,  in  which,  there  being  no  common 
superior,  each  party  must  interpret  for  itself,  under  its  own  obli 
gation  of  good  faith.  But  this  is  not  a  treaty,  but  a  constitution 
of  Government,  with  powers  to  execute  itself,  and  fulfil  its  duties. 

I  admit,  sir,  that  this  Government  is  a  Government  of  checks 
and  balances ;  that  is,  the  House  of  Representatives  is  a  check 
on  the  Senate,  and  the  Senate  is  a  check  on  the  House,  and  the 
President  a  check  on  both.  But  I  cannot  comprehend  him,  or, 
if  I  do,  I  totally  differ  from  him,  when  he  applies  the  notion  of 

*  In  Webster's  Works  (ed.  18^7)  this  passage  reads:  "The  gentleman  says,  it 
must  mean  no  more  than  the  people  of  the  several  States.  Doubtless,  the  people 
of  the  several  States,  taken  collectively,  constitute  the  people  of  the  United  States ; 
but  it  is  in  this,  their  collective  capacity,  it  is  as  all  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
that  they  establish  the  constitution."  —  ED. 


1830]  JACKSON'S  SECOND   MESSAGE  259 

checks  and  balances  to  the  interference  of  different  Governments. 
He  argues,  that  if  we  transgress,  each  State,  as  a  State,  has  a  right 
to  check  us.  Does  he  admit  the  converse  of  the  proposition,  that 
we  have  a  right  to  check  the  States?  The  gentleman's  doctrines 
would  give  us  a  strange  jumble  of  authorities  and  powers,  instead 
of  Governments  of  separate  and  defined  powers.  It  is  the  part  of 
wisdom,  I  think,  to  avoid  this;  and  to  keep  the  General  Gov 
ernment  and  the  State  Governments,  each  in  its  proper  sphere, 
avoiding,  as  carefully  as  possible,  every  kind  of  interference. 

Finally,  sir,  the  honorable  gentleman  says,  that  the  States  will 
only  interfere,  by  their  power,  to  preserve  the  constitution.  They 
will  not  destroy  it,  they  will  not  impair  it  —  they  will  only  save, 
they  will  only  preserve,  they  will  only  strengthen  it  !  Ah,  sir,  this 
is  but  the  old  story.  All  regulated  Governments,  all  free  Govern 
ments,  have  been  broken  up  by  similar  disinterested  and  well  dis 
posed  interference  !  It  is  the  common  pretence.  But  I  take 
leave  of  the  subject. 

No.   50.     The  Bank   Controversy :    Jackson's 
Second  Annual  Message 

December  7,  1830 

LITTLE  attention  was  paid  by  Congress  to  so  much  of  Jackson's  second 
annual  message  as  related  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  December  9,  in 
the  House,  an  attempt  by  Wayne  of  Georgia  to  have  that  portion  of  the  mes 
sage  referred  to  a  select  committee,  instead  of  to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means,  was  unsuccessful,  the  vote  being  67  to  108.  February  2,  1831,  the 
Senate,  by  a  vote  of  20  to  23,  rejected  Benton's  motion  for  leave  to  bring  in  a 
joint  resolution  declaring  that  the  charter  ought  not  to  be  renewed.  The 
result  in  each  of  these  cases  was  a  victory  for  the  bank. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  of  the  message  in  House  and  Senate  Journals,  2ist 
Cong.,  2d  Sess.;  the  extract  here  given  is  from  the  Senate  Journal,  30,  31. 
For  the  discussions,  see  Cong.  Debates,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XL  See 
also  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  L,  chap.  56. 

The  importance  of  the  principles  involved  in  the  inquiry, 
whether  it  will  be  proper  to  recharter  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  requires  that  I  should  again  call  the  attention  of  Congress 
to  the  subject.  Nothing  has  occurred  to  lessen,  in  any  degree, 
the  dangers  which  many  of  our  citizens  apprehend  from  that 
institution,  as  at  present  organized.  In  the  spirit  of  improvement 
and  compromise  which  distinguishes  our  country  and  its  institu- 


260  JACKSON'S   THIRD    MESSAGE  [Dec.  6 

tions,  it  becomes  us  to  inquire,  whether  it  be  not  possible  to  secure 
the  advantages  afforded  by  the  present  bank,  through  the  agency 
of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  so  modified  in  its  principles  and 
structure  as  to  obviate  constitutional  and  other  objections. 

It  is  thought  practicable  to  organize  such  a  bank,  with  the 
necessary  officers,  as  a  branch  of  the  Treasury  Department,  based 
on  the  public  and  individual  deposites,  without  power  to  make 
loans  or  purchase  property,  which  shall  remit  the  funds  of  the 
Government,  and  the  expense  of  which  may  be  paid,  if  thought 
advisable,  by  allowing  its  officers  to  sell  bills  of  exchange  to  private 
individuals  at  a  moderate  premium.  Not  being  a  corporate  body, 
having  no  stockholders,  debtors,  or  property,  and  but  few  officers, 
it  would  not  be  obnoxious  to  the  constitutional  objections  which 
are  urged  against  the  present  bank ;  and  having  no  means  to 
operate  on  the  hopes,  fears,  or  interests,  of  large  masses  of  the 
community,  it  would  be  shorn  of  the  influence  which  makes  that 
bank  formidable.  The  States  would  be  strengthened  by  having 
in  their  hands  the  means  of  furnishing  the  local  paper  currency 
through  their  own  banks ;  while  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
though  issuing  no  paper,  would  check  the  issues  of  the  State  banks 
by  taking  their  notes  in  deposite,  and  for  exchange,  only  so  long 
as  they  continue  to  be  redeemed  with  specie.  In  times  of  public 
emergency,  the  capacities  of  such  an  institution  might  be  enlarged 
by  legislative  provisions. 

These  suggestions  are  made,  not  so  much  as  a  recommendation, 
as  with  a  view  of  calling  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  possible 
modifications  of  a  system  which  can  not  continue  to  exist  in  its 
present  form  without  occasional  collisions  with  the  local  authorities, 
and  perpetual  apprehensions  and  discontent  on  the  part  of  the 
States  and  the  people. 


No.   51.     The  Bank   Controversy:    Jackson's 
Third  Annual  Message 

December  6,  1831 

THE  apparent  disposition  of  Jackson,  as  indicated  by  his  third  annual  mes 
sage,  to  drop  the  subject  of  the  bank  was  further  emphasized  by  the  annual 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  submitted  Dec.  7,  in  which  the  cause 
of  the  bank  was  advocated  at  length. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  of  the  message  in  House  and  Senate  Journals,  22d 


1831]  JACKSON'S   BANK   VETO  26 1 

Cong.,  ist  Sess.;   the  extract  here  given  is  from  the  Senate  Journal,  17.     For 
McLane's  report,  see  House  Exec.  Doc.  3. 

Entertaining  the  opinions  heretofore  expressed  in  relation  to  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  as  at  present  organized,  I  felt  it  my 
duty,  in  my  former  messages  frankly  to  disclose  them,  in  order 
that  the  attention  of  the  legislature  and  the  people  should  be 
seasonably  directed  to  that  important  subject,  and  that  it  might  be 
considered  and  finally  disposed  of  in  a  manner  best  calculated  to 
promote  the  ends  of  the  Constitution  and  subserve  the  public 
interests.  Having  thus  conscientiously  discharged  a  constitutional 
duty,  I  deem  it  proper,  on  this  occasion,  without  a  more  particular 
reference  to  the  views  of  the  subject  there  expressed,  to  leave  it  for 
the  present  to  the  investigation  of  an  enlightened  people  and  their 
representatives. 

No.   52.     Jackson's  Bank  Veto 

July  10,  1832 

THE  application  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  for  a  renewal  of  its 
charter  was  presented  to  Congress  Jan.  9,  1832.  In  the  Senate  the  memorial 
was  referred  to  a  select  committee.  March  13  Dallas  of  Pennsylvania,  for 
the  committee,  reported  a  bill  for  a  recharter  of  the  bank ;  the  bill  was  read 
a  second  time  May  22,  and  debated  until  June  n,  when  it  passed  by  a  vote 
of  28  to  20.  In  the  House  the  petition  for  a  recharter  had  been  referred  to 
the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  which  reported  Feb.  ro,  by  McDuffie  of 
South  Carolina,  a  bill  to  renew  and  modify  the  charter.  On  the  23d  Clayton 
of  Georgia  moved  the  appointment  of  a  select  committee  to  examine  the  affairs 
of  the  bank.  The  motion  was  debated  until  March  14,  when,  with  an  amend 
ment  offered  by  J.  Q.  Adams,  it  was  agreed  to.  A  majority  report,  to  the 
effect  "  that  the  bank  ought  not  to  be  rechartered  until  the  debt  was  all  paid 
and  the  revenue  readjusted,"  was  made  by  Clayton  April  30;  minority  reports, 
defending  the  bank,  were  presented  by  McDume  and  Adams  May  n  and  14. 
The  Senate  bill  was  not  taken  up  for  discussion  in  the  House  until  June  30; 
July  3  it  was  passed  with  amendments,  under  suspension  of  the  rules,  by  a 
vote  of  107  to  85.  The  Senate  concurred  in  the  House  amendments,  and 
the  bill  went  to  the  President,  who  returned  it  July  10  without  his  approval. 
In  the  Senate,  July  13,  the  vote  on  the  repassage  of  the  bill  stood  22  to  19, 
less  than  the  required  two-thirds;  so  the  bill  failed.  Only  the  most  important 
portions  of  the  veto  message  are  here  given. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Senate  Journal,  22d  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  433-446 ;  the 
message  is  also  printed  as  Senate  Doc.  iSo,  and  House  Exec.  Doc.  300.  Full  re 
ports  of  the  discussions  are  in  the  Cong.  Debates,  and  Benton's  Abridgment,  XI. 
The  text  of  the  bank  bill  is  in  the  Senate  Journal,  45 1-453.  For  Clayton's  report, 
see  House  Rep.  460 ;  the  document  includes  the  minority  reports,  evidence, 


262  JACKSON'S  BANK   VETO  [July  10 

and  papers  relating  to  the  Portsmouth  controversy.  Webster's  speeches  of 
May  25  and  28,  on  the  bill,  are  in  his  Works  (ed.  1857),  III.,  391-415; 
speech  of  July  u,  on  the  veto,  ib.,  III.,  416-447.  Clay's  speech  of  July  12, 
on  the  veto,  is  in  his  Life  and  Speeches  (ed.  1844),  II.,  94-105.  Numerous 
reports  and  memorials  relating  to  the  bank  will  be  found  in  the  House  and 
Senate  documents  of  this  session.  See  further,  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View, 
I.,  chaps.  63-68,  72;  Curtis's  Webster,  I.,  chap.  18;  Sumner's/rtivkftw,  chap.  12. 


A  Bank  of  the  United  States  is,  in  many  respects,  convenient 
for  the  Government,  and  useful  to  the  people.  Entertaining  this 
opinion,  and  deeply  impressed  with  the  belief  that  some  of  the 
powers  and  privileges  possessed  by  the  existing  bank  are  unau 
thorized  by  the  constitution,  subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  States, 
and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people,  I  felt  it  my  duty,  at 
an  early  period  of  my  administration,  to  call  the  attention  of 
Congress  to  the  practicability  of  organizing  an  institution  com 
bining  all  its  advantages,  and  obviating  these  objections.  I 
sincerely  regret,  that,  in  the  act  before  me,  I  can  perceive  none 
of  those  modifications  of  the  bank  charter  which  are  necessary, 
in  my  opinion,  to  make  it  compatible  with  justice,  with  sound 
policy,  or  with  the  constitution  of  our  country.  .  .  . 

Every  monopoly,  and  all  exclusive  privileges,  are  granted  at  the 
expense  of  the  public,  which  ought  to  receive  a  fair  equivalent. 
The  many  millions  which  this  act  proposes  to  bestow  on  the 
stockholders  of  the  existing  bank,  must  come  directly  or  indirectly 
out  of  the  earnings  of  the  American  people.  It  is  due  to  them, 
therefore,  if  their  Government  sell  monopolies  and  exclusive 
privileges,  that  they  should  at  least  exact  for  them  as  much  as 
they  are  worth  in  open  market.  The  value  of  the  monopoly 
in  this  case  may  be  correctly  ascertained.  The  twenty-eight  mill 
ions  of  stock  would  probably  be  at  an  advance  of  fifty  per  cent., 
and  command  in  market  at  least  forty-two  millions  of  dollars, 
subject  to  the  payment  of  the  present  bonus.  The  present  value 
of  the  monopoly,  therefore,  is  seventeen  millions  of  dollars,  and 
this  the  act  proposes  to  sell  for  three  millions,  payable  in  fifteen 
annual  instalments  of  $  200,000  each. 

It  is  not  conceivable  how  the  present  stockholders  can  have 
any  claim  to  the  special  favor  of  the  Government.  The  present 
corporation  has  enjoyed  its  monopoly  during  the  period  stipulated 
in  the  original  contract.  If  we  must  have  such  a  corporation,  why 
should  not  the  Government  sell  out  the  whole  stock,  and  thus 


1832]  JACKSON'S  BANK  VETO  263 

secure  to  the  people  the  full  market  value  of  the  privileges 
granted  ?  Why  should  not  Congress  create  and  sell  twenty-eight 
millions  of  stock,  incorporating  the  purchasers  with  all  the  powers 
and  privileges  secured  in  this  act,  and  putting  the  premium  upon 
the  sales  into  the  Treasury  ?  .  .  . 

•It  has  been  urged  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  rechartering  the 
present  bank,  that  the  calling  in  its  loans  will  produce  great 
embarrassment  and  distress.  The  time  allowed  to  close  its  con 
cerns  is  ample ;  and  if  it  has  been  well  managed,  its  pressure  will 
be  light,  and  heavy  only  in  case  its  management  has  been  bad. 
If,  therefore,  it  shall  produce  distress,  the  fault  will  be  its  own ; 
and  it  would  furnish  a  reason  against  renewing  a  power  which  has 
been  so  obviously  abused.  But  will  there  ever  be  a  time  when 
this  reason  will  be  less  powerful?  To  acknowledge  its  force,  is  to 
admit  that  the  bank  ought  to  be  perpetual ;  and,  as  a  consequence, 
the  present  stockholders,  and  those  inheriting  their  rights  as  suc 
cessors,  be  established  a  privileged  order,  clothed  both  with  great 
political  power,  and  enjoying  immense  pecuniary  advantages,  from 
their  connection  with  the  Government. 

The  modifications  of  the  existing  charter,  proposed  by  this  act, 
are  not  such,  in  my  view,  as  make  it  consistent  with  the  rights  of 
the  States  or  the  liberties  of  the  people.  The  qualification  of  the 
right  of  the  bank  to  hold  real  estate,  the  limitation  of  its  power  to 
establish  branches,  and  the  power  reserved  to  Congress  to  forbid 
the  circulation  of  small  notes,  are  restrictions  comparatively  of 
little  value  or  importance.  All  the  objectionable  principles  of  the 
existing  corporation,  and  most  of  its  odious  features,  are  retained 
without  alleviation.  .  .  . 

Is  there  no  danger  to  our  liberty  and  independence  in  a  bank, 
that,  in  its  nature,  has  so  little  to  bind  it  to  our  country?  The 
President  of  the  bank  has  told  us  that  most  of  the  State  banks 
exist  by  its  forbearance.  Should  its  influence  become  concentred, 
as  it  may  under  the  operation  of  such  an  act  as  this,  in  the  hands 
of  a  self-elected  directory,  whose  interests  are  identified  with  those 
of  the  foreign  stockholder,  will  there  not  be  cause  to  tremble  for 
the  purity  of  our  elections  in  peace,  and  for  the  independence  of 
our  country  in  war?  Their  power  would  be  great  whenever  they 
might  choose  to  exert  it;  but  if  this  monopoly  were  regularly 
renewed  every  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  on  terms  proposed  by 
themselves,  they  might  seldom  in  peace  put  forth  their  strength 


264  JACKSON'S   BANK  VETO  [July  10 

to  influence  elections,  or  control  the  affairs  of  the  nation. 
But  if  any  private  citizen  or  public  functionary  should  inter 
pose  to  curtail  its  powers,  or  prevent  a  renewal  of  its  privileges, 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  he  would  be  made  to  feel  its  influence. 

Should  the  stock  of  the  bank  principally  pass  into  the  hands  of 
the  subjects  of  a  foreign  country,  and  we  should  unfortunately 
become  involved  in  a  war  with  that  country,  what  would  be  our 
condition?  Of  the  course  which  would  be  pursued  by  a  bank 
almost  wholly  owned  by  the  subjects  of  a  foreign  power,  and 
managed  by  those  whose  interests,  if  not  affections,  would  run  in 
the  same  direction,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  All  its  operations 
within,  would  be  in  aid  of  the  hostile  fleets  and  armies  without. 
Controlling  our  currency,  receiving  our  public  moneys,  and  hold 
ing  thousands  of  our  citizens  in  independance,  it  would  be  more 
formidable  and  dangerous  than  the  naval  and  military  power  of 
the  enemy. 

If  we  must  have  a  bank  with  private  stockholders,  every  consid 
eration  of  sound  policy,  and  every  impulse  of  American  feeling, 
admonishes  that  it  should  be  purely  American.  .  .  . 

It  is  maintained  by  the  advocates  of  the  bank  that  its  constitu 
tionality  in  all  its  features  ought  to  be  considered  as  settled  by 
precedent,  and  by  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court.  To  this 
conclusion  I  cannot  assent.  Mere  precedent  is  a  dangerous  source 
of  authority,  and  should  not  be  regarded  as  deciding  questions  of 
constitutional  power,  except  where  the  acquiescence  of  the  people 
and  the  States  can  be  considered  as  well  settled.  So  far  from  this 
being  the  case  on  this  subject,  an  argument  against  the  bank 
might  be  based  on  precedent.  One  Congress,  in  1791,  decided 
in  favor  of  a  bank;  another,  in  1811,  decided  against  it.  One 
Congress,  in  1815,  decided  against  a  bank;  another,  in  1816, 
decided  in  its  favor.  Prior  to  the  present  Congress,  therefore, 
the  precedents  drawn  from  that  source  were  equal.  If  we  resort 
to  the  States,  the  expressions  of  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive 
opinions  against  the  bank,  have  been,  probably,  to  those  in  its 
favor,  as  four  to  one.  There  is  nothing  in  precedent,  therefore, 
which,  if  its  authority  were  admitted,  ought  to  weigh  in  favor  of 
the  act  before  me. 

If  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  covered  the  whole  ground 
of  this  act,  it  ought  not  to  control  the  co-ordinate  authorities  of 
this  Government.  The  Congress,  the  Executive,  and  the  Court, 


1832]  JACKSON'S   BANK   VETO  265 

must  each  for  itself  be  guided  by  its  own  opinion  of  the  constitu 
tion.  Each  public  officer,  who  takes  an  oath  to  support  the 
constitution,  swears  that  he  will  support  it  as  he  understands  it, 
and  not  as  it  is  understood  by  others.  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  of  the  Senate,  and  of  the  President, 
to  decide  upon  the  constitutionality  of  any  bill  or  resolution  which 
may  be  presented  to  them  for  passage  or  approval,  as  it  is  of  the 
Supreme  Judges  when  it  may  be  brought  before  them  for  judicial 
decision.  The  opinion  of  the  judges  has  no  more  authority  over 
Congress,  than  the  opinion  of  Congress  has  over  the  judges ;  and, 
on  that  point,  the  President  is  independent  of  both.  The  author 
ity  of  the  Supreme  Court  must  not,  therefore,  be  permitted  to 
control  the  Congress  or  the  Executive  when  acting  in  their  legis 
lative  capacities,  but  to  have  only  such  influence  as  the  force  of 
their  reasoning  may  deserve. 

But,  in  the  case  relied  upon,  the  Supreme  Court  have  not 
decided  that  all  the  features  of  this  corporation  are  compatible 
with  the  constitution.  It  is  true  that  the  court  have  said  that  the 
law  incorporating  the  bank  is  a  constitutional  exercise  of  power  by 
Congress.  But,  taking  into  view  the  whole  opinion  of  the  court, 
and  the  reasoning  by  which  they  have  come  to  that  conclusion, 
I  understand  them  to  have  decided  that,  inasmuch  as  a  bank  is 
an  appropriate  means  for  carrying  into  effect  the  enumerated 
powers  of  the  General  Government,  therefore  the  law  incorpo 
rating  it  is  in  accordance  with  that  provision  of  the  constitution 
which  declares  that  Congress  shall  have  power  "  to  make  all  laws 
which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  those  powers 
into  execution."  Having  satisfied  themselves  that  the  word 
"  necessary  "  in  the  constitution,  means  "  needful"  "  requisite" 
"essential"  "conducive  to"  and  that  "a  bank"  is  a  convenient, 
a  useful,  and  essential  instrument,  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
Government's  "  fiscal  operations,"  they  conclude,  that  to  "  use 
one  must  be  within  the  discretion  of  Congress,"  and  that  "the 
act  to  incorporate  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  is  a  law  made  in 
pursuance  of  the  constitution"  :  "but,"  say  they,  "where  the  law 
is  not  prohibited,  and  is  really  calculated  to  effect  any  of  the  objects 
entrusted  to  the  Government,  to  undertake  here  to  inquire  into  the 
degree  of  its  necessity,  would  be  to  pass  the  line  which  circumscribes 
the  judicial  department,  and  to  tread  on  legislative  ground" 

The  principle  here  affirmed  is,  that  the  "  degree  of  its  neces- 


266  JACKSON'S  BANK  VETO  [July  10 

sity,"  involving  all  the  details  of  a  banking  institution,  is  a  question 
exclusively  for  legislative  consideration.  A  bank  is  constitutional ; 
but  it  is  the  province  of  the  Legislature  to  determine  whether  this 
or  that  particular  power,  privilege,  or  exemption,  is  "necessary 
and  proper "  to  enable  the  bank  to  discharge  its  duties  to  the 
Government ;  and,  from  their  decision,  there  is  no  appeal  to  the 
courts  of  justice.  Under  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
therefore,  it  is  the  exclusive  province  of  Congress  and  the  Presi 
dent  to  decide  whether  the  particular  features  of  this  act  are 
necessary  and  proper  in  order  to  enable  the  bank  to  perform 
conveniently  and  efficiently  the  public  duties  assigned  to  it  as  a 
fiscal  agent,  and  therefore  constitutional ;  or  unnecessary  and 
improper,  and  therefore  unconstitutional.-  Without  commenting 
on  the  general  principle  affirmed  by  the  Supreme  Court,  let  us 
examine  the  details  of  this  act  in  accordance  with  the  rule  of 
legislative  action  which  they  have  laid  down.  It  will  be  found 
that  many  of  the  powers  and  privileges  conferred  on  it  cannot  be 
supposed  necessary  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  proposed  to 
be  created,  and  are  not,  therefore,  means  necessary  to  attain  the 
end  in  view,  and  consequently  not  justified  by  the  constitution.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  That  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  competent  to  all  the 
duties  which  may  be  required  by  the  Government,  might  be  so 
organized  as  not  to  infringe  on  our  own  delegated  powers,  or  the 
reserved  rights  of  the  States,  I  do  not  entertain  a  doubt.  Had 
the  Executive  been  called  upon  to  furnish  the  project  of  such  an 
institution,  the  duty  would  have  been  cheerfully  performed.  In 
the  absence  of  such  a  call,  it  is  obviously  proper  that  he  should 
confine  himself  to  pointing  out  those  prominent  features  in  the 
act  presented,  which,  in  his  opinion,  make  it  incompatible  with 
the  constitution  and  sound  policy.  A  general  discussion  will  now 
take  place,  eliciting  new  light,  and  settling  important  principles ; 
and  a  new  Congress,  elected  in  the  midst  of  such  discussion,  and 
furnishing  an  equal  representation  of  the  people  according  to  the 
last  census,  will  bear  to  the  Capitol  the  verdict  of  public  opinion,  and, 
I  doubt  not,  bring  this  important  question  to  a  satisfactory  result. 

Under  such  circumstances,  the  bank  comes  forward  and  asks  a 
renewal  of  its  charter  for  a  term  of  fifteen  years,  upon  conditions 
which  not  only  operate  as  a  gratuity  to  the  stockholders  of  many 
millions  of  dollars,  but  will  sanction  any  abuses  and  legalize  any 
encroachments. 


1832]  JACKSON'S   BANK   VETO  267 

Suspicions  are  entertained,  and  charges  are  made,  of  gross 
abuse  and  violation  of  its  charter.  An  investigation  unwillingly 
conceded,  and  so  restricted  in  time  as  necessarily  to  make  it 
incomplete  and  unsatisfactory,  discloses  enough  to  excite  suspicion 
and  alarm.  In  the  practices  of  the  principal  bank  partially 
unveiled,  in  the  absence  of  important  witnesses,  and  in  numerous 
charges  confidently  made,  and  as  yet  wholly  uninvestigated,  there 
was  enough  to  induce  a  majority  of  the  Committee  of  Investiga 
tion,  a  committee  which  was  selected  from  the  most  able  and 
honorable  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  recom 
mend  a  suspension  of  further  action  upon  the  bill,  and  a  prosecu 
tion  of  the  inquiry.  As  the  charter  had  yet  four  years  to  run,  and 
as  a  renewal  now  was  not  necessary  to  the  successful  prosecution 
of  its  business,  it  was  to  have  been  expected  that  the  bank  itself, 
conscious  of  its  purity,  and  proud  of  its  character,  would  have 
withdrawn  its  application  for  the  present,  and  demanded  the 
severest  scrutiny  into  all  its  transactions.  In  their  declining  to 
do  so,  there  seems  to  be  an  additional  reason  why  the  function 
aries  of  the  Government  should  proceed  with  less  haste,  and  more 
caution,  in  the  renewal  of  their  monopoly. 

The  bank  is  professedly  established  as  an  agent  of  the  Execu 
tive  branches  of  the  Government,  and  its  constitutionality  is 
maintained  on  that  ground.  Neither  upon  the  propriety  of 
present  action,  nor  upon  the  provisions  of  this  act,  was  the 
Executive  consulted.  It  has  had  no  opportunity  to  say  that  it 
neither  needs  nor  wants  an  agent  clothed  with  such  powers,  and 
favored  by  such  exemptions.  There  is  nothing  in  its  legitimate 
functions  which  make  it  necessary  or  proper.  Whatever  interest 
or  influence,  whether  public  or  private,  has  given  birth  to  this  act, 
it  cannot  be  found  either  in  the  wishes  or  necessities  of  the  Ex 
ecutive  Department,  by  which  present  action  is  deemed  premature, 
and  the  powers  conferred  upon  its  agent  not  only  unnecessary, 
but  dangerous  to  the  Government  and  country.  .  .  . 

I  have  now  done  my  duty  to  my  country.  If  sustained  by  my 
fellow-citizens,  I  shall  be  grateful  and  happy ;  if  not,  I  shall  find, 
in  the  motives  which  impel  me,  ample  grounds  for  contentment 
and  peace.  In  the  difficulties  which  surround  us,  and  the  dangers 
which  threaten  our  institutions,  there  is  cause  for  neither  dismay 
nor  alarm.  For  relief  and  deliverance  let  us  firmly  rely  on  that 
kind  Providence  which,  I  am  sure,  watches  with  peculiar  care  over 


268  ORDINANCE  OF  NULLIFICATION  [Nov.  24 

the  destinies  of  our  Republic,  and  on  the  intelligence  and  wisdom 
of  our  countrymen.  Through  His  abundant  goodness,  and  their 
patriotic  devotion,  our  liberty  and  Union  will  be  preserved. 


No.  53.     South  Carolina  Ordinance  of  Nullifi 
cation 

November  24,  1832 

THE  opposition  of  the  South,  and  particularly  of  South  Carolina,  to  protec 
tion  has  already  been  noted  (No.  44).  The  tariff  act  of  July  14,  1832,  while 
doing  away  with  some  of  the  most  objectionable  features  of  the  act  of  1828, 
showed  no  signs  of  an  abandonment  of  the  protective  policy.  The  State 
election  of  1832,  accordingly,  turned  on  the  question  of  calling  a  convention 
to  nullify  the  tariff  laws.  The  legislature  met  in  extra  session  Oct.  22;  on  the 
26th,  in  accordance  with  the  suggestion  of  Governor  Hamilton  in  his  message, 
a  bill  for  calling  a  convention  was  passed.  The  convention  met  Nov.  19.  Of 
the  162  delegates  present,  136  favored  nullification.  November  24,  by  a  vote 
of  136  to  26,  the  Ordinance  of  Nullification  was  adopted.  Addresses  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States  and  of  South  Carolina  were  also  issued.  The 
legislature  met  in  regular  session  Nov.  27,  and  promptly  passed  a  series  of 
laws  to  give  effect  to  the  ordinance. 

REFERENCES. —  rfex(  in  Senate  Doc.  30,  22d  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  pp.  36-39; 
the  document  contains  also  the  report  of  the  committee  of  21  to  the  conven 
tion,  addresses  to  the  people  of  South  Carolina  and  of  the  United  States,  mes 
sage  of  Governor  Hamilton  to  the  legislature,  inaugural  address  of  Governor 
Hayne,  and  the  three  acts.  The  proceedings  of  the  convention  are  in  State 
Papers  on  Nullification  (Mass.  Gen.  Court,  Misc.  Doc.,  1834).  Numerous 
documents  are  collected  in  Niles's  Register,  XLIII.  Houston's  Critical  Study 
of  Nullification  in  South  Carolina  is  of  prime  importance;  see  especially,  on 
the  ordinance,  pp.  106-115.  See  also  Burgess's  Middle  Period,  chap.  10; 
Parton's  Jackson,  III.,  chaps.  32,  33;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'1  Vieiv,  I.,  chaps. 
78,  87—89;  Stephens's  War  between  the  States,  I.,  coll.  10-12  ;  Johnston,  in 
Lalor's  Cyclopcedia,  II.,  1050-1055;  Memoir  and  Writings  of  Hugh  S.  Legare, 
I.,  270-279. 

An  Ordinance  to  Nullify  certain  acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  purporting  to  be  laws  laying  duties  and  imposts  on  the 
importation  of  foreign  commodities. 

Whereas  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by  various  acts,  pur 
porting  to  be  acts  laying  duties  and  imposts  on  foreign  imports, 
but  in  reality  intended  for  the  protection  of  domestic  manufact 
ures,  and  the  giving  of  bounties  to  classes  and  individuals  en 
gaged  in  particular  employments,  at  the  expense  and  to  the  injury 


1832]  ORDINANCE  OF  NULLIFICATION  269 

and  oppression  of  other  classes  and  individuals,  and  by  wholly  ex 
empting  from  taxation  certain  foreign  commodities,  such  as  are 
not  produced  or  manufactured  in  the  United  States,  to  afford  a 
pretext  for  imposing  higher  and  excessive  duties  on  articles  simi 
lar  to  those  intended  to  be  protected,  hath  exceeded  its  just 
powers  under  the  Constitution,  which  confers  on  it  no  authority  to 
afford  such  protection,  and  hath  violated  the  true  meaning  and 
intent  of  the  Constitution,  which  provides  for  equality  in  imposing 
the  burthens  of  taxation  upon  the  several  States  and  portions  of 
the  confederacy  :  And  whereas  the  said  Congress,  exceeding  its 
just  power  to  impose  taxes  and  collect  revenue  for  the  purpose  of 
effecting  and  accomplishing  the  specific  objects  and  purposes 
which  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  authorizes  it  to  effect 
and  accomplish,  hath  raised  and  collected  unnecessary  revenue 
for  objects  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution : 

We,  therefore,  the  people  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  in  Con 
vention  assembled,  to  declare  and  ordain,  and  it  is  hereby  declared 
and  ordained,  that  the  several  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  purporting  to  be  laws  for  the  imposing  of 
duties  and  imposts  on  the  importation  of  foreign  commodities,  and 
now  having  actual  operation  and  effect  within  the  United  States, 
and,  more  especially,  an  act  entited  "An  act  in  alteration  of  the 
several  acts  imposing  duties  on  imports,"  approved  on  the  nine 
teenth  day  of  May,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-eight, 
and  also  an  act  entitled  "  An  act  to  alter  and  amend  the  several 
acts  imposing  duties  on  imports,"  approved  on  the  fourteenth  day 
of  July,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-two,  are  unauthor 
ized  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  violate  the  true 
meaning  and  intent  thereof,  and  are  null,  void,  and  no  law,  nor 
binding  upon  this  State,  its  officers  or  citizens ;  and  all  promises, 
contracts,  and  obligations,  made  or  entered  into,  or  to  be  made 
or  entered  into,  with  purpose  to  secure  the  duties  imposed  by  the 
said  acts,  and  all  judicial  proceedings  which  shall  be  hereafter  had 
in  affirmance  thereof,  are  and  shall  be  held  utterly  null  and  void. 

And  it  is  further  ordained,  that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  of 
the  constituted  authorities,  whether  of  this  State  or  of  the  United 
States,  to  enforce  the  payment  of  duties  imposed  by  the  said 
acts  within  the  limits  of  this  State ;  but  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Legislature  to  adopt  such  measures  and  pass  such  acts  as  may  be 
necessary  to  give  full  effect  to  this  ordinance,  and  to  prevent  the 


270  ORDINANCE  OF  NULLIFICATION  [Nov.  24 

enforcement  and  arrest  the  operation  of  the  said  acts  and  parts  of 
acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  within  the  limits  of  this 
State,  from  and  after  the  ist  day  of  February  next,  and  the  duty 
of  all  other  constituted  authorities,  and  of  all  persons  residing  or 
being  within  the  limits  of  this  State,  and  they  are  hereby  required 
and  enjoined,  to  obey  and  give  effect  to  this  ordinance,  and  such 
acts  and  measures  of  the  Legislature  as  may  be  passed  or  adopted 
in  obedience  thereto. 

And  it  is  further  ordained,  that  in  no  case  of  law  or  equity, 
decided  in  the  courts  of  this  State,  wherein  shall  be  drawn  in 
question  the  authority  of  this  ordinance,  or  the  validity  of  such 
act  or  acts  of  the  Legislature  as  may  be  passed  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  effect  thereto,  or  the  validity  of  the  aforesaid  acts  of  Con 
gress,  imposing  duties,  shall  any  appeal  be  taken  or  allowed  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  nor  shall  any  copy  of  the 
record  be  permitted  or  allowed  for  that  purpose ;  and  if  any  such 
appeal  shall  be  attempted  to  be  taken,  the  courts  of  this  State 
shall  proceed  to  execute  and  enforce  their  judgments,  according 
to  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  State,  without  reference  to  such 
attempted  appeal,  and  the  person  or  persons  attempting  to  take 
such  appeal  may  be  dealt  with  as  for  a  contempt  of  the  court. 

And  it  is  further  ordained,  that  all  persons  bow  [now]  holding 
any  office  of  honor,  profit,  or  trust,  civil  or  military,  under  this 
State,  (members  of  the  Legislature  excepted,)  shall,  within  such 
time,  and  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  shall  prescribe,  take 
an  oath  well  and  truly  to  obey,  execute,  and  enforce,  this  ordi 
nance,  and  such  act  or  acts  of"  the  Legislature  as  may  be  passed  in 
pursuance  thereof,  according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of 
the  same  ;  and  on  the  neglect  or  omission  of  any  such  person  or 
persons  so  to  do,  his  or  their  office  or  offices  shall  be  forthwith 
vacated,  and  shall  be  filled  up  as  if  such  person  or  persons  were 
dead  or  had  resigned;  and  no  person  hereafter  elected  to  any 
office  of  honor,  profit,  or  trust,  civil  or  military,  (members  of  the 
Legislature  excepted,)  shall,  until  the  Legislature  shall  otherwise 
provide  and  direct,  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  or  be  in 
any  respect  competent  to  discharge  the  duties  thereof,  until  he 
shall,  in  like  manner,  have  taken  a  similar  oath ;  and  no  juror 
shall  be  empannelled  in  any  of  the  courts  of  this  State,  in  any 
cause  in  which  shall  be  in  question  this  ordinance,  or  any  act  of 
the  Legislature  passed  in  pursuance  thereof,  unless  he  shall  first, 


1832]  ORDINANCE  OF  NULLIFICATION  271 

in  addition  to  the  usual  oath,  have  taken  an  oath  that  he  will  well 
and  truly  obey,  execute,  and  enforce  this  ordinance,  and  such  act 
or  acts  of  the  Legislature  as  may  be  passed  to  carry  the  same  into 
operation  and  effect,  according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning 
thereof. 

And  we,  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  to  the  end  that  it  may 
be  fully  understood  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  people  of  the  co-States,  that  we  are  determined  to  maintain 
this,  our  ordinance  and  declaration,  at  every  hazard,  do  further 
declare  that  we  will  not  submit  to  the  application  of  force,  on  the 
part  of  the  Federal  Government,  to  reduce  this  State  to  obedi 
ence  ;  but  that  we  will  consider  the  passage,  by  Congress,  of  any 
act  authorizing  the  employment  of  a  military  or  naval  force  against 
the  State  of  South  Carolina,  her  constituted  authorities  or  citizens  ; 
or  any  act  abolishing  or  closing  the  ports  of  this  State,  or  any  of 
them,  or  otherwise  obstructing  the  free  ingress  and  egress  of  ves 
sels  to  and  from  the  said  ports,  or  any  other  act  on  the  part  of  the 
Federal  Government,  to  coerce  the  State,  shut  up  her  ports, 
destroy  or  harrass  her  commerce,  or  to  enforce  the  acts  hereby 
declared  to  be  null  and  void,  otherwise  than  through  the  civil  tri 
bunals  of  the  country,  as  inconsistent  with  the  longer  continuance 
of  South  Carolina  in  the  Union  :  and  that  the  people  of  this  State 
will  thenceforth  hold  themselves  absolved  from  all  further  obliga 
tion  to  maintain  or  preserve  their  political  connexion  with  the 
people  of  the  other  States,  and  will  forthwith  proceed  to  organize 
a  separate  Government,  and  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which 
sovereign  and  independent  States  may  of  right  to  do. 

Done  in  Convention  at  Columbia,  the  twenty-fourth  day  of 
November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  thirty-two,  and  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  the  declaration  of 
the  independence  of  the  United  States  of  America.* 


No.   54.     The  Bank  Controversy :    Jackson's 
Fourth  Annual  Message 

December  4,  1832 

"IN  July  [1832]  General  Cadwallader  was  sent  to  Europe  to  try  to  nego 
tiate  with  the  holders  of  the  three  per  cents  for  an  extension  of  the  loan  for  a 
*  The  names  of  the  signers  are  omitted.  —  ED. 


2/2  JACKSON'S   FOURTH   MESSAGE  [Dec.  4 

year  beyond  October,  the  bank  becoming  the  debtor,  and  paying,  if  necessary, 
four  per  cent  on  the  extension.  .  .  .  August  22d  General  Cadwallader  made 
an  arrangement  with  the  Barings,  by  which  they  were  to  pay  off  all  the  holders 
of  the  stocks  who  were  not  willing  to  extend  them  and  take  the  bank  as 
debtor"  (Sumner).  In  his  annual  message  of  Dec.  4  Jackson  called  the 
attention  of  Congress  to  this  transaction,  although  the  contract  had  been  repu 
diated  by  the  bank  Oct.  15.  February  13,  1833,  Polk  of  Tennessee,  from  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  reported  in  the  House  a  bill  authorizing 
the  sale  of  the  bank  stock  held  by  the  United  States;  by  a  vote  of  102  to  91 
the  bill  was  rejected.  March  I  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  through 
Verplanck  of  New  York,  submitted  a  report,  together  with  a  resolution  "  that 
the  Government  deposites  may,  in  the  opinion  of  this  House,  be  safely  con 
tinued  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States."  An  elaborate  minority  report  was 
submitted  by  Polk.  March  2  the  House  adopted  the  resolution  by  a  vote  of 
109  to  46.  The  bank  controversy  had  now  become  a  party  question,  and  the 
merits  of  the  case  were  no  longer  the  chief  consideration. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  of  the  message  in  House  and  Senate  Journals,  22d 
Cong.,  2d  Sess. ;  the  extract  here  given  is  in  the  House  Journal,  15,  1 6.  The 
discussions  are  in  the  Cong.  Debates,  and  Benton's  Abridgment,  XI.  For  the 
correspondence  relative  to  the  three  per  cent  stock,  see  House  Exec.  Doc.  9  / 
for  the  report  of  Toland,  the  agent  of  the  Treasury  to  inspect  the  accounts  of 
the  bank,  see  House  Exec.  Doc.  8.  Verplanck's  report  is  House  Rep.  121. 

In  conformity  with  principles  heretofore  explained,  and  with 
the  hope  of  reducing  the  General  Government  to  that  simple 
machine  which  the  constitution  created,  and  of  withdrawing  from 
the  States  all  other  influence  than  that  of  its  universal  beneficence 
in  preserving  peace,  affording  an  uniform  currency,  maintaining 
the  inviolability  of  contracts,  diffusing  intelligence,  and  discharg 
ing,  unfelt,  its  other  superintending  functions,  I  recommend  that 
provision  be  made  to  dispose  of  all  stocks  now  held  by  it  in 
corporations,  whether  created  by  the  General  or  State  Govern 
ments,  and  placing  the  proceeds  in  the  Treasury.  As  a  source 
of  profit,  these  stocks  are  of  little  or  no  value ;  as  a  means  of 
influence  among  the  States,  they  are  adverse  to  the  purity  of  our 
institutions.  The  whole  principle  on  which  they  are  based,  is 
deemed  by  many  unconstitutional,  and,  to  persist  in  the  policy 
which  they  indicate,  is  considered  wholly  inexpedient. 

It  is  my  duty  to  acquaint  you  with  an  arrangement  made  by 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  with  a  portion  of  the  holders  of  the 
three  per  cent,  stock,  by  which  the  Government  will  be  deprived 
of  the  use  of  the  public  funds  longer  than  was  anticipated.  By 
this  arrangement,  which  will  be  particularly  explained  by  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury,  a  surrender  of  the  certificates  of  this  stock 


1832]  PROCLAMATION   TO   SOUTH   CAROLINA  2/3 

may  be  postponed  until  October,  1833  ;  and  thus  the  liability  of 
the  Government,  after  its  ability  to  discharge  the  debt,  may  be 
continued  by  the  failure  of  the  bank  to  perform  its  duties. 

Such  measures  as  are  within  the  reach  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  have  been  taken  to  enable  him  to  judge  whether  the 
public  deposites  in  that  institution  may  be  regarded  as  entirely 
safe ;  but,  as  his  limited  power  may  prove  inadequate  to  this 
object,  I  recommend  the  subject  to  the  attention  of  Congress, 
under  the  firm  belief  that  it  is  worthy  of  their  serious  investigation. 
An  inquiry  into  the  transactions  of  the  institution,  embracing  the 
branches  as  well  as  the  principal  bank,  seems  called  for  by  the 
credit  which  is  given  throughout  the  country  to  many  serious 
charges  impeaching  its  character,  and  which,  if  true,  may  justly 
excite  the  apprehension  that  it  is  no  longer  a  safe  depository  of 
the  money  of  the  people. 


No.   55.    Jackson's  Proclamation  to  the  People 
of  South  Carolina 

December  10,  1832 

IN  anticipation  of  the  action  of  the  South  Carolina  convention,  Jackson 
issued  additional  instructions  to  the  collector  at  Charleston,  and  made  prepara 
tions  for  using  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  if  necessary. 
The  authorities  of  South  Carolina  made  similar  preparations.  Hayne  had 
left  the  Senate  to  become  governor  of  the  State,  his  place  being  taken  by 
Calhoun,  who  resigned  the  Vice-Presidency.  In  his  annual  message  of  Dec.  4, 
1832,  Jackson  referred  briefly  to  the  State  of  affairs  in  South  Carolina,  and 
expressed  the  hope  that  existing  laws  would  prove  sufficient  for  any  exigency. 
On  the  roth  he  issued  the  proclamation  to  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  ex 
tracts  from  which  follow.  December  20  Governor  Hayne,  at  the  request  of 
the  legislature,  issued  a  counter  proclamation,  in  which,  among  other  matters, 
the  interference  of  the  President  was  resented,  and  the  right  of  secession 
affirmed.  On  the  same  day  general  orders,  over  the  signature  of  the  adjutant 
general  of  the  State,  invited  the  services  of  volunteers. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Senate  Doc.  30,  22d  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  pp.  78-92; 
the  same  document  contains  also  the  instructions  to  the  collector  of  customs 
and  the  United  States  district  attorney,  and  the  proclamation  of  Governor 
Hayne.  The  resolution  of  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina,  in  response  to 
the  proclamation,  is  in  Niles's  Register,  XLIIL,  300.  See  also  Parton's  Jack 
son,  III.,  chap.  34;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  I.,  chap.  79. 
T 


274  PROCLAMATION  TO  SOUTH   CAROLINA  [Dec.  10 

[After  reciting  the  circumstances  under  which  the  Ordinance  of 
Nullification  was  issued,  and  the  substance  of  its  assertions,  the 
proclamation  continues  :] 

And  whereas,  the  said  ordinance  prescribes  to  the  people  of 
South  Carolina  a  course  of  conduct  in  direct  violation  of  their 
duty  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  their 
country,  subversive  of  its  Constitution,  and  having  for  its  object 
the  destruction  of  the  Union  —  that  Union,  which,  coeval  with 
our  political  existence,  led  our  fathers,  without  any  other  ties  to 
unite  them  than  those  of  patriotism  and  a  common  cause,  through 
a  sanguinary  struggle  to  a  glorious  independence  —  that  sacred 
Union,  hitherto  inviolate,  which,  perfected  by  our  happy  Consti 
tution,  has  brought  us,  by  the  favor  of  Heaven,  to  a  state  of  pros 
perity  at  home,  and  high  consideration  abroad,  rarely,  if  ever, 
equalled  in  the  history  of  nations.  To  preserve  this  bond  of  our 
political  existence  from  destruction,  to  maintain  inviolate  this  state 
of  national  honor  and  prosperity,  and  to  justify  the  confidence  my 
fellow  citizens  have  reposed  in  me,  I,  ANDREW  JACKSON,  President 
of  the  United  States,  have  thought  proper  to  issue  this  my  PROC 
LAMATION,  stating  my  views  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  appli 
cable  to  the  measures  adopted  by  the  Convention  of  South  Carolina, 
and  to  the  reasons  they  have  put  forth  to  sustain  them,  declaring 
the  course  which  duty  will  require  me  to  pursue,  and,  appealing 
to  the  understanding  and  patriotism  of  the  people,  warn  them  of 
the  consequences  that  must  inevitably  result  from  an  observance 
of  the  dictates  of  the  Convention. 

Strict  duty  would  require  of  me  nothing  more  than  the  exercise 
of  those  powers  with  which  I  am  now,  or  may  hereafter  be  invested, 
for  preserving  the  peace  of  the  Union,  and  for  the  execution  of  the 
laws.  But  the  imposing  aspect  which  opposition  has  assumed  in 
this  case,  by  clothing  itself  with  State  authority,  and  the  deep 
interest  which  the  people  of  the  United  States  must  all  feel  in 
preventing  a  resort  to  stronger  measures,  while  there  is  a  hope 
that  any  thing  will  be  yielded  to  reasoning  and  remonstrance, 
perhaps  demand,  and  will  certainly  justify,  a  full  exposition  to 
South  Carolina  and  the  nation  of  the  views  I  entertain  of  this 
important  question,  as  well  as  a  distinct  enunciation  of  the  course 
which  my  sense  of  duty  will  require  me  to  pursue. 

The  ordinance  is  founded,  not  on  the  indefeasible  right  of 
resisting  acts  which  are  plainly  unconstitutional,  and  too  oppres- 


1832]  PROCLAMATION  TO   SOUTH  CAROLINA  275 

sive  to  be  endured ;  but  on  the  strange  position  that  any  one 
State  may  not  only  declare  an  act  of  Congress  void,  but  prohibit 
its  execution  —  that  they  may  do  this  consistently  with  the  Consti 
tution  —  that  the  true  construction  of  that  instrument  permits  a 
State  to  retain  its  place  in  the  Union,  and  yet  be  bound  by  no 
other  of  its  laws  than  those  it  may  choose  to  consider  as  consti 
tutional.  It  is  true,  they  add,  that  to  justify  this  abrogation  of  a 
law,  it  must  be  palpably  contrary  to  the  Constitution ;  but  it  is 
evident,  that,  to  give  the  right  of  resisting  laws  of  that  description, 
coupled  with  the  uncontrolled  right  to  decide  what  laws  deserve 
that  character,  is  to  give  the  power  of  resisting  all  laws.  For,  as 
by  the  theory,  there  is  no  appeal,  the  reasons  alleged  by  the  State, 
good  or  bad,  must  prevail.  If  it  should  be  said  that  public  opinion 
js  a  sufficient  check  against  the  abuse  of  this  power,  it  may  be 
asked  why  it  is  not  deemed  a  sufficient  guard  against  the  passage 
of  an  unconstitutional  act  by  Congress?  There  is,  however,  a 
restraint  in  this  last  case,  which  makes  the  assumed  power  of  a 
State  more  indefensible,  and  which  does  not  exist  in  the  other. 
There  are  two  appeals  from  an  unconstitutional  act  passed  by 
Congress  —  one  to  the  Judiciary,  the  other  to  the  people  and  the 
States.  There  is  no  appeal  from  the  State  decision  in  theory,  and 
the  practical  illustration  shows  that  the  courts  are  closed  against 
an  application  to  review  it,  both  judges  and  jurors  being  sworn  to 
decide  in  its  favor.  But  reasoning  on  this  subject  is  superfluous, 
when  our  social  compact,  in  express  terms,  declares  that  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  its  Constitution,  and  treaties  made  under  it, 
are  the  supreme  law  of  the  land ;  and,  for  greater  caution,  adds 
"  that  the  judges  in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  anything 
in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the  contrary  notwith 
standing."  And  it  may  be  asserted  without  fear  of  refutation,  that 
no  Federative  Government  could  exist  without  a  similar  provision. 
Look  for  a  moment  to  the  consequence.  If  South  Carolina  con 
siders  the  revenue  laws  unconstitutional,  and  has  a  right  to  prevent 
their  execution  in  the  port  of  Charleston,  there  would  be  a  clear 
constitutional  objection  to  their  collection  in  every  other  port,  and 
no  revenue  could  be  collected  any  where ;  for  all  imposts  must  be 
equal.  It  is  no  answer  to  repeat,  that  an  unconstitutional  law  is 
no  law,  so  long  as  the  question  of  its  legality  is  to  be  decided 
by  the  State  itself;  for  every  law  operating  injuriously  upon  any 
local  interest  will  be  perhaps  thought,  and  certainly  represented, 


2/6  PROCLAMATION  TO   SOUTH   CAROLINA  [Dec.  10 

as  unconstitutional,  and,  as  has  been  shown,  there  is  no 
appeal.  .  .  . 

If  the  doctrine  of  a  State  veto  upon  the  laws  of  the  Union 
carries  with  it  internal  evidence  of  its  impracticable  absurdity, 
our  constitutional  history  will  also  afford  abundant  proof  that  it 
would  have  been  repudiated  with  indignation  had  it  been  proposed 
to  form  a  feature  in  our  Government.  .  .  . 

I  consider,  then,  the  power  to  annul  a  law  of  the  United  States, 
assumed  by  one  State,  INCOMPATIBLE  WITH  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  THE 

UNION,  CONTRADICTED  EXPRESSLY  BY  THE  LETTER  OF  THE  CONSTI 
TUTION,  UNAUTHORIZED  BY  ITS  SPIRIT,  INCONSISTENT  WITH  EVERY 
PRINCIPLE  ON  WHICH  IT  WAS  FOUNDED,  AND  DESTRUCTIVE  OF  THE 
GREAT  OBJECT  FOR  WHICH  IT  WAS  FORMED. 

After  this  general  view  of  the  leading  principle,  we  must  exam 
ine  the  particular  application  of  it  which  is  made  in  the  ordinance. 

The  preamble  rests  its  justification  on  these  grounds :  It 
assumes,  as  a  fact,  that  the  obnoxious  laws,  although  they  purport 
to  be  laws  for  raising  revenue,  were  in  reality  intended  for  the 
protection  of  manufactures,  which  purpose  it  asserts  to  be  uncon 
stitutional  ;  that  the  operation  of  these  laws  is  unequal ;  that  the 
amount  raised  by  them  is  greater  than  is  required  by  the  wants  of 
the  Government ;  and,  finally,  that  the  proceeds  are  to  be  applied 
to  objects  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution.  These  are  the  only 
causes  alleged  to  justify  an  open  opposition  to  the  laws  of  the 
country,  and  a  threat  of  seceding  from  the  Union,  if  any  attempt 
should  be  made  to  enforce  them.  The  first  virtually  acknowledges 
that  the  law  in  question  was  passed  under  a  power  expressly  given 
by  the  Constitution  to  lay  and  collect  imposts ;  but  its  constitu 
tionality  is  drawn  in  question  from  the  motives  of  those  who  passed 
it.  However  apparent  this  purpose  may  be  in  the  present  case, 
nothing  can  be  more  dangerous  than  to  admit  the  position  that  an 
unconstitutional  purpose,  entertained  by  the  members  who  assent 
to  a  law  enacted  under  a  constitutional  power,  shall  make  that 
law  void  :  for  how  is  that  purpose  to  be  ascertained  ?  Who  is  to 
make  the  scrutiny?  How  often  may  bad  purposes  be  falsely 
imputed  —  in  how  many  cases  are  they  concealed  by  false  pro 
fessions  —  in  how  many  is  no  declaration  of  motive  made  ?  Admit 
this  doctrine,  and  you  give  to  the  States  an  uncontrolled  right  to 
decide,  and  every  law  may  be  annulled  under  this  pretext.  If, 
therefore,  the  absurd  and  dangerous  doctrine  should  be  admitted, 


1832]  PROCLAMATION  TO   SOUTH   CAROLINA  2// 

that  a  State  may  annul  an  unconstitutional  law,  or  one   that  it 
deems  such,  it  will  not  apply  to  the  present  case. 

The  next  objection  is,  that  the  laws  in  question  operate  un 
equally.  This  objection  may  be  made  with  truth,  to  every  law 
that  has  been  or  can  be  passed.  The  wisdom  of  man  never  yet 
contrived  a  system  of  taxation  that  would  operate  with  perfect 
equality.  If  the  unequal  operation  of  a  law  makes  it  unconstitu 
tional,  and  if  all  laws  of  that  description  may  be  abrogated  by  any 
State  for  that  cause,  then  indeed  is  the  Federal  Constitution  un 
worthy  of  the  slightest  effort  for  its  preservation.  .  .  . 

The  two  remaining  objections  made  by  the  ordinance  to  these 
laws,  are  that  the  sums  intended  to  be  raised  by  them  are  greater 
than  are  required,  and  that  the  proceeds  will  be  unconstitutionally 
employed. 

The  Constitution  has  given,  expressly,  to  Congress  the  right  of. 
raising  revenue,  and  of  determining  the  sum  the  public  exigencies 
will  require.  The  States  have  no  control  over  the  exercise  of  this 
right  other  than  that  which  results  from  the  power  of  changing  the 
representatives  who  abuse  it,  and  thus  procure  redress.  Congress 
may,  undoubtedly,  abuse  this  discretionary  power,  but  the  same 
may  be  said  of  others  with  which  they  are  vested.  Yet  the  dis 
cretion  must  exist  somewhere.  The  Constitution  has  given  it  to 
the  representatives  of  all  the  people,  checked  by  the  representa 
tives  of  the  States,  and  by  the  Executive  Power.  The  South 
Carolina  construction  gives  it  to  the  Legislature  or  the  Conven 
tion  of  a  single  State,  where  neither  the  people  of  the  different 
States,  nor  the  States  in  their  separate  capacity,  nor  the  Chief 
Magistrate  elected  by  the  people,  have  any  representation.  Which 
is  the  most  discreet  disposition  of  the  power?  I  do  not  ask  you, 
fellow  citizens,  which  is  the  constitutional  disposition  —  that  in 
strument  speaks  a  language  not  to  be  misunderstood.  But  if  you 
were  assembled  in  general  Convention,  which  would  you  think  the 
safest  depository  of  this  discretionary  power  in  the  last  resort? 
Would  you  add  a  clause  giving  it  to  each  of  the  States,  or  would 
you  sanction  the  wise  provisions  already  made  by  your  Con 
stitution?  .  .  . 

The  ordinance,  with  the  same  knowledge  of  the  future  that 
characterizes  a  former  objection,  tells  you  that  the  proceeds  of 
the  tax  will  be  unconstitutionally  applied.  If  this  could  be  ascer 
tained  with  certainty,  the  objection  would,  with  more  propriety, 


2/8  PROCLAMATION  TO   SOUTH   CAROLINA  [Dec.  10 

be  reserved  for  the  law  so  applying  the  proceeds,  but  surely  can 
not  be  urged  against  the  laws  levying  the  duty.  .  .  . 

On  such  expositions  and  reasonings,  the  ordinance  grounds  not 
only  an  assertion  of  the  right  to  annul  the  laws  of  which  it  com 
plains,  but  to  enforce  it  by  a  threat  of  seceding  from  the  Union  if 
any  attempt  is  made  to  execute  them. 

This  right  to  secede  is  deduced  from  the  nature  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  which,  they  say,  is  a  compact  between  sovereign  States,  who 
have  preserved  their  whole  sovereignty,  and,  therefore,  are  subject 
to  no  superior ;  that,  because  they  made  the  compact,  they  can 
break  it  when,  in  their  opinion,  it  has  been  departed  from  by  the 
other  States.  Fallacious  as  this  course  of  reasoning  is,  it  enlists 
State  pride,  and  finds  advocates  in  the  honest  prejudices  of  those 
who  have  not  studied  the  nature  of  our  Government  sufficiently  to 
see  the  radical  error  on  which  it  rests. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  formed  the  Constitution,  acting 
through  the  State  Legislatures  in  making  the  compact,  to  meet 
and  discuss  its  provisions,  and  acting  in  separate  Conventions 
when  they  ratified  those  provisions  :  but  the  terms  used  in  its 
construction,  show  it  to  be  a  government  in  which  the  people  of 
all  the  States  collectively  are  represented.  .  .  . 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  then  forms  a  government, 
not  a  league ;  and  whether  it  be  formed  by  compact  between  the 
States,  or  in  any  other  manner,  its  character  is  the  same.  It  is  a 
government  in  which  all  the  people  are  represented,  which  operates 
directly  on  the  people  individually,  not  upon  the  States  —  they 
retained  all  the  power  they  did  not  grant.  But  each  State  having 
expressly  parted  with  so  many  powers  as  to  constitute,  jointly 
with  the  other  States,  a  single  nation,  cannot,  from  that  period, 
possess  any  right  to  secede,  because  such  secession  does  not 
break  a  league,  but  destroys  the  unity  of  a  nation  ;  and  any  injury 
to  that  unity  is  not  only  a  breach  which  would  result  from  the 
contravention  of  a  compact,  but  it  is  an  offence  against  the  whole 
Union.  To  say  that  any  State  may  at  pleasure  secede  from  the 
Union,  is  to  say  that  the  United  States  are  not  a  nation,  because 
it  would  be  a  solecism  to  contend  that  any  part  of  a  nation  might 
dissolve  its  connexion  with  the  other  parts,  to  their  injury  or  ruin, 
without  committing  any  offence.  Secession,  like  any  other  revo 
lutionary  act,  may  be  morally  justified  by  the  extremity  of  oppres 
sion  ;  but  to  call  it  a  constitutional  right,  is  confounding  the 


1832]  PROCLAMATION  TO   SOUTH   CAROLINA  2/9 

meaning  of  terms ;  and  can  only  be  done  through  gross  error,  or 
to  deceive  those  who  are  willing  to  assert  a  right,  but  would  pause 
before  they  made  a  revolution,  or  incur  the  penalties  consequent 
on  a  failure. 

Because  the  Union  was  formed  by  compact,  it  is  said  the  parties 
to  that  compact  may,  when  they  feel  themselves  aggrieved,  depart 
from  it :  but  it  is  precisely  because  it  is  a  compact  that  they 
cannot.  A  compact  is  an  agreement  or  binding  obligation.  It 
may  by  its  terms  have  a  sanction  or  penalty  for  its  breach  or  it 
may  not.  If  it  contains  no  sanction,  it  may  be  broken  with  no 
other  consequence  than  moral  guilt :  if  it  have  a  sanction,  then 
the  breach  insures  the  designated  or  implied  penalty.  A  league 
between  independent  nations,  generally,  has  no  sanction  other 
than  a  moral  one ;  or  if  it  should  contain  a  penalty,  as  there  is  no 
common  superior,  it  cannot  be  enforced.  A  government,  on  the 
contrary,  always  has  a  sanction,  express  or  implied ;  and,  in  our 
case,  it  is  both  necessarily  implied  and  expressly  given.  An 
attempt,  by  force  of  arms,  to  destroy  a  government,  is  an  offence 
by  whatever  means  the  constitutional  compact  may  have  been 
formed,  and  such  government  has  the  right,  by  the  law  of  self- 
defence,  to  pass  acts  for  punishing  the  offender,  unless  that  right 
is  modified,  restrained,  or  resumed  by  the  constitutional  act.  In 
our  system,  although  it  is  modified  in  the  case  of  treason,  yet 
authority  is  expressly  given  to  pass  all  laws  necessary  to  carry  its 
powers  into  effect,  and,  under  this  grant,  provision  has  been  made 
for  punishing  acts  which  obstruct  the  due  administration  of  the 
laws. 

It  would  seem  superfluous  to  add  anything  to  show  the  nature 
of  that  union  which  connects  us ;  but,  as  erroneous  opinions  on 
this  subject  are  the  foundation  of  doctrines  the  most  destructive 
to  our  peace,  I  must  give  some  further  development  to  my  views 
on  this  subject.  No  one,  fellow  citizens,  has  a  higher  reverence 
for  the  reserved  rights  of  the  States  than  the  magistrate  who  now 
addresses  you.  No  one  would  make  greater  personal  sacrifices, 
or  official  exertions,  to  defend  them  from  violation  ;  but  equal  care 
must  be  taken  to  prevent,  on  their  part,  an  improper  interference 
with,  or  resumption  of,  the  rights  they  have  vested  in  the  nation. 
The  line  has  not  been  so  distinctly  drawn  as  to  avoid  doubts  in 
some  cases  of  the  exercise  of  power.  Men  of  the  best  intentions 
and  soundest  views  may  differ  in  their  construction  of  some  parts 


280  PROCLAMATION  TO   SOUTH   CAROLINA  [Dec.  10 

of  the  Constitution ;  but  there  are  others  on  which  dispassionate 
reflection  can  leave  no  doubt.  Of  this  nature  appears  to  be  the 
assumed  right  of  secession.  It  treats  \_rests~\t  as  we  have  seen,  on 
the  alleged  undivided  sovereignty  of  the  States,  and  of  their  having 
formed,  in  this  sovereign  capacity,  a  compact  which  is  called  the 
Constitution,  from  which,  because  they  made  it,  they  have  the 
right  to  secede.  Both  of  these  positions  are  erroneous,  and  some 
of  the  arguments  to  prove  them  so  have  been  anticipated. 

The  States  severally  have  not  retained  their  entire  sovereignty. 
It  has  been  shown  that,  in  becoming  parts  of  a  nation,  not  mem 
bers  of  a  league,  they  surrendered  many  of  their  essential  parts  of 
sovereignty.  The  right  to  make  treaties  —  declare  war  —  levy 
taxes  —  exercise  exclusive  judicial  and  legislative  powers  —  were 
all  of  them  functions  of  sovereign  power.  The  States,  then,  for 
all  these  purposes,  were  no  longer  sovereign.  The  allegiance  of 
their  citizens  was  transferred,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  :  they  became  American  citizens,  and 
owed  obedience  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
laws  made  in  conformity  with  the  powers  it  vested  in  Congress. 
This  last  position  has  not  been,  and  cannot  be  denied.  How, 
then,  can  that  State  be  said  to  be  sovereign  and  independent 
whose  citizens  owe  obedience  to  laws  not  made  by  it,  and  whose 
magistrates  are  sworn  to  disregard  those  laws  when  they  come  in 
conflict  with  those  passed  by  another?  What  shows  conclusively 
that  the  States  cannot  be  said  to  have  reserved  an  undivided  sov 
ereignty,  is,  that  they  expressly  ceded  the  right  to  punish  treason, 
not  treason  against  their  separate  powrer,  but  treason  against  the 
United  States.  Treason  is  an  offence  against  sovereignty,  and 
sovereignty  must  reside  with  the  power  to  punish  it.  But  the  re 
served  rights  of  the  States  are  not  less  sacred  because  they  have, 
for  their  common  interest,  made  the  General  Government  a 
depository  of  these  powers. 

The  unity  of  our  political  character  (as  has  been  shown  for 
another  purpose)  commenced  with  its  very  existence.  Under  the 
royal  government  we  had  no  separate  character :  our  opposition 
to  its  oppressions  began  as  UNITED  COLONIES.  We  were  the  UNITED 
STATES  under  the  confederation,  and  the  name  was  perpetuated, 
and  the  Union  rendered  more  perfect,  by  the  Federal  Constitution. 
In  none  of  these  stages  did  we  consider  ourselves  in  any  other 
light  than  as  forming  one  nation.  Treaties  and  alliances  were 


1832]  PROCLAMATION  TO   SOUTH    CAROLINA  28 1 

made  in  the  name  of  all.  Troops  were  raised  for  the  joint  de 
fence.  How,  then,  with  all  these  proofs,  that  under  all  changes 
of  our  position  we  had,  for  designated  purposes  and  denned  pow 
ers,  created  national  governments  —  how  is  it,  that  the  most 
perfect  of  those  several  modes  of  union  should  now  be  considered 
as  a  mere  league  that  may  be  dissolved  at  pleasure?  It  is  from 
an  abuse  of  terms.  Compact  is  used  as  synonymous  with  league, 
although  the  true  term  is  not  employed,  because  it  would  at  once 
show  the  fallacy  of  the  reasoning.  It  would  not  do  to  say  that 
our  Constitution  was  only  a  league,  but  it  is  labored  to  prove  it  a 
compact,  (which  in  one  sense  it  is,)  and  then  to  argue  that  as 
a  league  is  a  compact,  every  compact  between  nations  must  of 
course  be  a  league,  and  that  from  such  an  engagement  every  sov 
ereign  power  has  the  right  to  recede.  But  it  has  been  shown  that, 
in  this  sense,  the  States  are  not  sovereign,  and  that  even  if  they 
were,  and  the  national  Constitution  had  been  formed  by  compact, 
there  would  be  no  right  in  any  one  State  to  exonerate  itself  from 
its  obligations. 

So  obvious  are  the  reasons  which  forbid  this  secession,  that  it  is 
necessary  only  to  allude  to  them.  The  Union  was  formed  for  the 
benefit  of  all.  It  was  produced  by  mutual  sacrifices  of  interests 
and  opinions.  Can  those  sacrifices  be  recalled?  Can  the  States, 
who  magnanimously  surrendered  their  title  to  the  territories  of 
the  west,  recal  the  grant?  Will  the  inhabitants  of  the  inland 
States  agree  to  pay  the  duties  that  may  be  imposed  without  their 
assent  by  those  on  the  Atlantic  or  the  Gulf,  for  their  own  benefit  ? 
Shall  there  be  a  free  port  in  one  State,  and  onerous  duties  in 
another?  No  one  believes  that  any  right  exists  in  a  single  State 
to  involve  all  the  others  in  these  and  countless  other  evils  contrary 
to  the  engagements  solemnly  made.  Every  one  must  see  that 
the  other  States,  in  self  defence,  must  oppose  it  at  all  hazards. 

These  are  the  alternatives  that  are  presented  by  the  Convention  : 
a  repeal  of  all  the  acts  for  raising  revenue,  leaving  the  Government 
without  the  means  of  support,  or  an  acquiescence  in  the  dissolu 
tion  of  our  Union  by  the  secession  x)f  one  of  its  members.  When 
the  first  was  proposed,  it  was  known  that  it  could  not  be  listened 
to  for  a  moment.  It  was  known,  if  force  was  applied  to  oppose 
the  execution  of  the  laws  that  it  must  be  repelled  by  force ;  that 
Congress  could  not,  without  involving  itself  in  disgrace  and  the 
country  in  ruin,  accede  to  the  proposition  :  and  yet  if  this  is  not 


282  PROCLAMATION  TO   SOUTH   CAROLINA  [Dec.  10 

done  in  a  given  day,  or  if  any  attempt  is  made  to  execute  the 
laws,  the  State  is,  by  the  ordinance,  declared  to  be  out  of  the 
Union.  The  majority  of  a  Convention  assembled  for  the  purpose, 
have  dictated  these  terms,  or  rather  this  rejection  of  all  terms,  in 
the  name  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina.  It  is  true  that  the 
Governor  of  the  State  speaks  of  the  submission  of  their  grievances 
to  a  Convention  of  all  the  States,  which,  he  says,  they  "  sincerely 
and  anxiously  seek  and  desire."  Yet  this  obvious  and  constitu 
tional  mode  of  obtaining  the  sense  of  the  other  States  on  the 
construction  of  the  federal  compact,  and  amending  it,  if  neces 
sary,  has  never  been  attempted  by  those  who  have  urged  the 
State  on  to  this  destructive  measure.  The  State  might  have  pro 
posed  the  call  for  a  General  Convention  to  the  other  States ;  and 
Congress,  if  a  sufficient  number  of  them  concurred,  must  have 
called  it.  But  the  first  magistrate  of  South  Carolina,  when  he 
expressed  a  hope  that,  "  on  a  review  by  Congress  and  the  func 
tionaries  of  the  General  Government,  of  the  merits  of  the  contro 
versy,"  such  a  Convention  will  be  accorded  to  them,  must  have 
known  that  neither  Congress,  nor  any  functionary  of  the  General 
Government,  has  authority  to  call  such  a  Convention,  unless  it  be 
demanded  by  two-thirds  of  the  States.  This  suggestion,  then,  is 
another  instance  of  the  reckless  inattention  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  with  which  this  crisis  has  been  madly  hurried  on ;  or 
of  the  attempt  to  persuade  the  people  that  a  constitutional  rem 
edy  had  been  sought  and  refused.  If  the  Legislature  of  South 
Carolina  "  anxiously  desire  "  a  General  Convention  to  consider 
their  complaints,  why  have  they  not  made  application  for  it  in  the 
way  the  Constitution  points  out?  The  assertion  that  they  "ear 
nestly  seek  it "  is  completely  negatived  by  the  omission. 

This,  then,  is  the  position  in  which  we  stand.  A  small  majority 
of  the  citizens  of  one  State  in  the  Union  have  elected  delegates  to 
a  State  Convention ;  that  Convention  has  ordained  that  all  the 
revenue  laws  of  the  United  States  must  be  repealed,  or  that  they 
are  no  longer  a  member  of  the  Union.  The  Governor  of  that 
State  has  recommended  to  the  Legislature  the  raising  of  an  army 
to  carry  the  secession  into  effect,  and  that  he  may  be  empowered 
to  give  clearances  to  vessels  in  the  name  of  the  State.  No  act  of 
violent  opposition  to  the  laws  has  yet  been  committed,  but  such  a 
state  of  things  is  hourly  apprehended;  and  it  is  the  intent  of 
this  instrument  to  proclaim,  not  only  that  the  duty  imposed  on 


1832]  PROCLAMATION  TO   SOUTH   CAROLINA  283 

me  by  the  Constitution  "  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully 
executed,"  shall  be  performed  to  the  extent  of  the  powers  already 
vested  in  me  by  law,  or  of  such  others  as  the  wisdom  of  Congress 
shall  devise  and  entrust  to  me  for  that  purpose,  but  to  warn  the 
citizens  of  South  Carolina  who  have  been  deluded  into  an  opposi 
tion  to  the  laws,  of  the  danger  they  will  incur  by  obedience  to  the 
illegal  and  disorganizing  ordinance  of  the  Convention ;  to  exhort 
those  who  have  refused  to  support  it  to  persevere  in  their  deter 
mination  to  uphold  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  their  country ; 
and  to  point  out  to  all  the  perilous  situation  into  which  the  good 
people  of  that  State  have  been  led,  and  that  the  course  they  are 
urged  to  pursue  is  one  of  ruin  and  disgrace  to  the  very  State  whose 
rights  they  affect  to  support.  .  .  . 

Fellow  citizens  of  the  United  States  !  The  threat  of  unhallowed 
disunion  —  the  names  of  those  once  respected,  by  whom  it  was 
uttered  —  the  array  of  military  force  to  support  it  —  denote  the 
approach  of  a  crisis  in  our  affairs,  on  which  the  continuance  of 
our  unexampled  prosperity,  our  political  existence,  and  perhaps 
that  of  all  free  governments,  may  depend.  The  conjuncture 
demanded  a  free,  a  full,  and  explicit  enunciation,  not  only  of  my 
intentions,  but  of  my  principles  of  action ;  and,  as  the  claim  was 
asserted  of  a  right  by  a  State  to  annul  the  laws  of  the  Union, 
and  even  to  secede  from  it  at  pleasure,  a  frank  exposition  of  my 
opinions  in  relation  to  the  origin  and  form  of  our  Government, 
and  the  construction  I  give  to  the  instrument  by  which  it  was 
created,  seemed  to  be  proper.  Having  the  fullest  confidence  in  the 
justness  of  the  legal  and  constitutional  opinion  of  my  duties,  which 
has  been  expressed,  I  rely,  with  equal  confidence,  on  your  undi 
vided  support  in  my  determination  to  execute  the  laws  —  to  pre 
serve  the  Union  by  all  constitutional  means  —  to  arrest,  if  possible, 
by  moderate  but  firm  measures,  the  necessity  of  a  recourse  to 
force ;  and,  if  it  be  the  will  of  Heaven,  that  the  recurrence  of  its 
primeval  curse  on  man  for  the  shedding  of  a  brother's  blood  should 
fall  upon  our  land,  that  it  be  not  called  down  by  any  offensive  act 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  .  .  . 


284  ACT   FOR   ENFORCING  THE  TARIFF  [March  2 

No.    56.     Act  for   Enforcing   the  Tariff 

March  2,   1833 

IN  his  annual  message  of  Dec.  4,  1832,  Jackson  suggested  that  "  the  policy 
of  protection  must  be  ultimately  limited  to  those  articles  of  domestic  manu 
facture  which  are  indispensable  to  our  safety  in  time  of  war";  and  the  annual 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  recommended  a  reduction  of  duties  to 
a  revenue  basis.  December  27  Verplanck  of  New  York  reported  from  the 
House  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  a  bill  to  reduce  the  tariff.  January 
1 6,  1833,  Jackson  sent  to  Congress  his  message  on  nullification,  reviewing  the 
progress  of  events  in  South  Carolina,  and  asking  for  additional  legislation  to 
enforce  the  revenue  laws.  On  the  2 1st  a  bill  to  enforce  the  collection  of  the 
revenue  was  reported  in  the  Senate  by  Wilkins  of  Pennsylvania,  from  the  Com 
mittee  on  the  Judiciary.  The  tariff  bill,  sharply  antagonized  by  protectionist 
members,  was  meantime  making  its  way  through  the  House.  P'ebruary  12  Clay 
introduced  in  the  Senate  a  compromise  tariff  bill.  On  the  2Oth  the  Senate 
passed  the  "  force  bill"  by  a  vote  of  32  to  I,  and  on  the  following  day  took  up 
Clay's  bill.  On  the  25th  the  House  recommitted  its  tariff  bill,  by  a  vote  of  95  to 
54,  with  instructions  to  report  the  compromise  tariff  in  its  place;  on  the  26th  the 
latter  passed  the  House,  the  vote  being  119  to  85.  The  same  day  the  Senate 
laid  Clay's  bill  on  the  table,  and  March  I  passed  the  House  bill,  by  a  vote  of 
29  to  16.  The  "force  bill"  passed  the  House  March  I,  by  a  vote  of  149  to 
47.  In  the  meantime,  many  State  legislatures  had  passed  resolutions  against 
nullification.  The  South  Carolina  ordinance  was  to  go  into  effect  Feb.  I,  but 
action  was  deferred  pending  Congressional  settlement  of  the  tariff.  The  pas 
sage  of  the  compromise  tariff  was  regarded  as  a  signal  victory  by  the  nullifiers. 
The  convention  was  summoned  to  meet  March  n;  on  the  i8th  it  dissolved, 
after  repealing  the  ordinance  of  nullification  and  adopting  an  ordinance  nulli 
fying  the  "  force  bill." 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  U,  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  IV.,  632-635.  For  the  pro 
ceedings,  see  the  House  and  Senate  Journals,  22d  Cong.,  2cl  Sess. ;  for  the 
discussions,  see  the  Cong.  Debates,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XII.  Niles's 
Register,  XLIIL,  contains  abstracts  of  debates  and  numerous  documents. 
The  message  of  Jan.  1 6  is  in  the  Journals.  The  speeches  of  Webster  and 
Calhoun  on  the  "  force  bill "  are  in  the  Cong.  Debates,  and  also  Calhoun's 
Works  (ed.  1853),  II.,  197-309,  and  Webster's  Works  (ed.  1857),  III.,  448- 
505.  The  events  are  discussed  at  length  in  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  I., 
chaps.  80-86;  see  also.  Houston,  op.  cit.  ;  Curtis's  Webster,  I.,  chap.  19; 
Tyler's  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  I.,  chap.  14. 

An  Act  further  to  provide  for  the  collection  of  duties  on  imports. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 

United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  whenever, 

by  reason  of  unlawful  obstructions,  combinations,  or  assemblages 

of  persons,  it  shall  become  impracticable,  in  the  judgment  of  the 


1833]  ACT   FOR   ENFORCING  THE  TARIFF  285 

President,  to  execute  the  revenue  laws,  and  collect  the  duties  on 
imports  in  the  ordinary  way,  in  any  collection  district,  it  shall  and 
may  be  lawful  for  the  President  to  direct  that  the  custom-house 
for  such  district  be  established  and  kept  in  any  secure  place  within 
some  port  or  harbour  of  such  district,  either  upon  land  or  on  board 
any  vessel ;  and,  in  that  case,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  collector 
to  reside  at  such  place,  and  there  to  detain  all  vessels  and  cargoes 
arriving  within  the  said  district  until  the  duties  imposed  on  said 
•cargoes,  by  law,  be  paid  in  cash,  deducting  interest  according  to 
existing  laws ;  and  in  such  cases  it  shall  be  unlawful  to  take  the 
vessel  or  cargo  from  the  custody  of  the  proper  officer  of  the  cus 
toms,  unless  by  process  from  some  Court  of  the  United  States ; 
and  in  case  of  any  attempt  otherwise  to  take  such  vessel  or  cargo 
by  any  force,  or  combination,  or  assemblage  of  persons  too  great 
to  be  overcome  by  the  officers  of  the  customs,  it  shall  and  may  be 
lawful  for  the  President  of  the  United  States,  or  such  person  or 
persons  as  he  shall  have  empowered  for  that  purpose,  to  employ 
such  part  of  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  militia  of  the  United 
States,  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
the  removal  of  such  vessel  or  cargo,  and  protecting  the  officers  of 
the  customs  in  retaining  the  custody  thereof. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
circuit  courts  of  the  United  States  shall  extend  to  all  cases,  in  law 
or  equity,  arising  under  the  revenue  laws  of  the  United  States,  for 
which  other  provisions  are  not  already  made  by  law ;  and  if  any 
person  shall  receive  any  injury  to  his  person  or  property  for  or  on 
account  of  *  any  act  by  him  done,  under  any  law  of  the  United 
States,  for  the  protection  of  the  revenue  or  the  collection  of  duties 
on  imports,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  maintain  suit  for  damage  there 
for  in  the  circuit  court  of  the  United  States  in  the  district  wherein 
the  party  doing  the  injury  may  reside,  or  shall  be  found.  And 
all  property  taken  or  detained  by  any  officer  or  other  person  under 
authority  of  any  revenue  law  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  irre- 
pleviable,  and  shall  be  deemed  to  be  in  the  custody  of  the  law, 
and  subject  only  to  the  orders  and  decrees  of  the  courts  of  the 
United  States  having  jurisdiction  thereof.  And  if  any  person 
shall  dispossess  or  rescue,  or  attempt  to  dispossess  or  rescue, 
any  property  so  taken  or  detained  as  aforesaid,  or  shall  aid  or 
assist  therein,  such  person  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misde 
meanour,  and  shall  be  liable  to  such  punishment  as  is  provided 


286  ACT   FOR   ENFORCING  THE  TARIFF  [March  2 

by  the  twenty-second  section  of  the  act  for  the  punishment  of 
certain  crimes  against  the  United  States,  approved  the  thirtieth 
day  of  April,  Anno  Domini  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety,*  for  the  wilful  obstruction  or  resistance  of  officers  in  the 
service  of  process. 

SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  any  case  where 
suit  or  prosecution  shall  be  commenced  in  a  court  of  any  state, 
against  any  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  other  person,  for  or  on 
account  of  any  act  done  under  the  revenue  laws  of  the  United 
States,  or  under  colour  thereof,  or  for  or  on  account  of  any  right, 
authority,  or  title,  set  up  or  claimed  by  such  officer,  or  other  per 
son  under  any  such  law  of  the  United  States,  it  shall  be  lawful  for 
the  defendant  in  such  suit  or  prosecution,  at  any  time  before  trial, 
upon  a  petition  to  the  circuit  court  of  the  United  States,  in  and 
for  the  district  in  which  the  defendant  shall  have  been  served 
with  process,  setting  forth  the  nature  of  said  suit  or  prosecution, 
and  verifying  the  said  petition  by  affidavit,  together  with  a  certifi 
cate  signed  by  an  attorney  or  counsellor  at  law  of  some  court  of 
record  of  the  state  in  which  such  suit  shall  have  been  commenced, 
or  of  the  United  States,  setting  forth  that,  as  counsel  for  the  peti 
tioner,  he  has  examined  the  proceedings  against  him,  and  has 
carefully  inquired  into  all  the  matters  set  forth  in  the  petition, 
and  that  he  believes  the  same  to  be  true ;  which  petition,  affidavit 
and  certificate,  shall  be  presented  to  the  said  circuit  court,  if  in 
session,  and  if  not,  to  the  clerk  thereof,  at  his  office,  and  shall  be 
filed  in  said  office,  and  the  cause  shall  thereupon  be  entered  on 
the  docket  of  said  court,  and  shall  be  thereafter  proceeded  in  as 
a  cause  originally  commenced  in  that  court ;  and  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  clerk  of  said  court,  if  the  suit  were  commenced  in  the 
court  below  by  summons,  to  issue  a  writ  of  certiorari  to  the  state 
court,  requiring  said  court  to  send  to  the  said  circuit  court  the 
record  and  proceedings  in  said  cause ;  or  if  it  were  commenced 
by  capias,  he  shall  issue  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  cum  causa,  a 
duplicate  of  which  said  writ  shall  be  delivered  to  the  clerk  of  the 
state  court,  or  left  at  his  office  by  the  marshal  of  the  district,  or 
his  deputy,  or  some  person  duly  authorized  thereto ;  and,  there 
upon  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  said  state  court  to  stay  all  further 
proceedings  in  such  cause,  and  the  said  suit  or  prosecution,  upon 
delivery  of  such  process,  or  leaving  the  same  as  aforesaid,  shall  be 

*  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  I.,  112,  117.—  ED. 


1833]  ACT   FOR   ENFORCING  THE  TARIFF  287 

deemed  and  taken  to  be  moved  to  the  said  circuit  court,  and  any 
further  proceedings,  trial  or  judgment  therein  in  the  state  court 
shall  be  wholly  null  and  void.  And  if  the  defendant  in  any  such 
suit  be  in  actual  custody  on  mesne  process  therein,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  marshal,  by  virtue  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  cum 
causa,  to  take  the  body  of  the  defendant  into  his  custody,  to  be 
dealt  with  in  the  said  cause  according  to  the  rules  of  law  and  the 
order  of  the  circuit  court,  or  of  any  judge  thereof,  in  vacation. 
And  all  attachments  made  and  all  bail  and  other  security  given 
upon  such  suit,  or  prosecution,  shall  be  and  continue  in  like  force 
and  effect,  as  if  the  same  suit  or  prosecution  had  proceeded  to 
final  judgment  and  execution  in  the  state  court.  And  if,  upon 
the  removal  of  any  such  suit,  or  prosecution,  it  shall  be  made  to 
appear  to  the  said  circuit  court  that  no  copy  of  the  record  and 
proceedings  therein,  in  the  state  court,  can  be  obtained,  it  shall 
be  lawful  for  said  circuit  court  to  allow  and  require  the  plaintiff  to 
proceed  de  novo,  and  to  file  a  declaration  of  his  cause  of  action, 
and  the  parties  may  thereupon  proceed  as  in  actions  originally 
brought  in  said  circuit  court ;  and  on  failure  of  so  proceeding, 
judgment  of  non  pros,  may  be  rendered  against  the  plaintiff  with 
costs  for  the  defendant. 

SEC.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  any  case  in  which 
any  party  is,  or  may  be  by  law,  entitled  to  copies  of  the  record 
and  proceedings  in  any  suit  or  prosecution  in  any  state  court,  to 
be  used  in  any  court  of  the  United  States,  if  the  clerk  of  said  state 
court  shall,  upon  demand,  and  the  payment  or  tender  of  the  legal 
fees,  refuse  or  neglect  to  deliver  to  such  party  certified  copies  of 
such  record  and  proceedings,  the  court  of  the  United  States  in 
which  such  record  and  proceedings  may  be  needed,  on  proof,  by 
affidavit,  that  the  clerk  of  such  state  court  has  refused  or  neglected 
to  deliver  copies  thereof,  on  demand  as  aforesaid,  may  direct  and 
allow  such  record  to  be  supplied  by  affidavit,  or  otherwise,  as  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  may  require  and  allow ;  and,  thereupon, 
such  proceeding,  trial,  and  judgment,  may  be  had  in  the  said  court 
of  the  United  States,  and  all  such  processes  awarded,  as  if  certi 
fied  copies  of  such  records  and  proceedings  had  been  regularly 
before  the  said  court. 

SEC.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  whenever  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  shall  be  officially  informed,  by  the 
authorities  of  any  state,  or  by  a  judge  of  any  circuit  or  district 


288  "      ACT   FOR   ENFORCING  THE  TARIFF  [March  2 

court  of  the  United  States,  in  the  state,  that,  within  the  limits  of 
such  state,  any  law  or  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  the  execution 
thereof,  or  of  any  process  from  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  is 
obstructed  by  the  employment  of  military  force,  or  by  any  other 
unlawful  means,  too  great  to  be  overcome  by  the  ordinary  course 
of  judicial  proceeding,  or  by  the  powers  vested  in  the  marshal  by 
existing  laws,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  him,  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  forthwith  to  issue  his  proclamation,  declaring  such 
fact  or  information,  and  requiring  all  such  military  and  other  force 
forthwith  to  disperse ;  and  if  at  any  time  after  issuing  such  proc 
lamation,  any  such  opposition  or  obstruction  shall  be  made,  in 
the  manner  or  by  the  means  aforesaid,  the  President  shall  be,  and 
hereby  is,  authorized,  promptly  to  employ  such  means  to  suppress 
the  same,  and  to  cause  the  said  laws  or  process  to  be  duly  exe 
cuted,  as  are  authorized  and  provided  in  the  cases  therein  men 
tioned  by  the  act  of  the  twenty-eighth  of  February,  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  ninety-five,  entitled  "An  act  to  provide  for 
calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  suppress 
insurrections,  repel  invasions,  and  to  repeal  the  act  now  in  force 
for  that  purpose ;  "  *  and  also,  by  the  act  of  the  third  of  March, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seven,  entitled  "  An  act  author 
izing  the  employment  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United 
States  in  cases  of  insurrection."  f 

SEC.  6.     And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  any  state  where  the 
jails  are  not  allowed  to  be  used  for  the  imprisonment  of  persons 
arrested  or  committed  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or 
where  houses  are  not  allowed  to  be  so  used,  it  shall  and  may  be 
lawful  for  any  marshal,  under  the  direction  of  the  judge  of  the 
United   States   for  the   proper  district,  to   use   other  convenien' 
places,  within  the  limits  of  said  state,  and  to  make  such  oth 
provision    as    he    may   deem   expedient    and   necessary  for  tha 
purpose. 

SEC.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  either  of  the  justu  ;s 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  or  a  judge  of  any  district  court  of,  *he 
United  States,  in  addition  to  the  authority  already  conferred  by 
law,  shall  have  power  to  grant  writ* ;  "habeas  corpus  in  aliases 
of  a  prisoner  or  prisoners,  in  jail  finement,  where'Ve  or 

they  shall  be  committed  or  confined  on,  or  by  any  aut'     pty  or 

*  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  I.,  424,  425.  —  ED. 
f  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  II.,  443.  —  ED. 


1833]  REMOVAL   OF  THE   DEPOSITS  289 

law,  for  any  act  done,  or  omitted  to  be  done,  in  pursuance  of  a 
law  of  the  United  States,  or  any  order,  process,  or  decree,  of  any 
judge  or  court  thereof,  any  thing  in  any  act  of  Congress  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding.  And  if  any  person  or  persons  to  whom 
such  writ  of  habeas  corpus  may  be  directed,  shall  refuse  to  obey 
the  same,  or  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  make  return,  or  shall  make 
a  false  return  thereto,  in  addition  to  the  remedies  already  given 
by  law,  he  or  they  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to  be  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor,  and  shall,  on  conviction  before  any  court  of  com 
petent  jurisdiction,  be  punished  by  fine,  not  exceeding  one  thou 
sand  dollars,  and  by  imprisonment,  not  exceeding  six  months,  or 
by  either,  according  to  the  nature  and  aggravation  of  the  case. 

SEC.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  several  provisions 
contained  in  the  first  and  fifth  sections  of  this  act,  shall  be  in 
force  until  the  end  of  the  next  session  of  Congress,  and  no  longer. 


Removal  of  the  Deposits 

September,  1833 

IN  spite  of  evidence  to  the  contrary,  the  conduct  of  the  bank  in  the  matter 
of  the  three  per  cent,  stock  had  convinced  Jackson  that  the  institution  was, 
by  this  time,  thoroughly  unsound.  By  the  bank  charter  act  the  immediate 
control  of  the  public  deposits  was  vested  in  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
with  the  further  provision  that,  in  case  of  their  removal  from  the  bank,  the 
reasons  therefor  should  be  laid  before  Congress.  The  removal  of  the  deposits 
seems  to  have  been  discussed  in  administration  circles  soon  after  Jackson's 
"econd  election;  reports,  however,  did  not  become  current  until  July,  1833. 

May  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  McLane,  having  declined  to  order  the 

ioval,  was  transferred  to  the  Department  of  State,  and  Duane  appointed  in 
'ace.  September  1 8  Jackson  read  to  the  Cabinet  an  elaborate  paper,  drafted 
aney,  the  Attorney-General,  setting  forth  at  length  his  reasons  for  decid- 
\."  non  the  removal  of  the  deposits  ifter  Oct.  i.  Although  Duane  was  op- 
poSL  to  the  bank,  he  "refused  to  ^.ve  the  order  and  refused  to  resign"; 
Sept.  -2  >  he  was  dismissed,  and  Taney  became  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  In 
the  m  ntime,  Amos  Kendall,  a  member  of  the  "  Kitchen  Cabinet,"  had  been 
sent  to  isit  a  number  of  Eastern  cities  and  arrange  with  State  banks  to  receive 
the  pull  ;  deposits.  The  first  orde-  r  removal  were  issued  by  Taney  Sept. 
26,  and  ignated  the  Girard  T>  Jhiladelphia  as  a  place  of  deposit.  In 

October"  Maine  Bank  of  and  the  Franklin  Bank  of  Cincinnati 

were  simi  designated. 

REFERJ'  ES.  —  Text  of  the  paper  read  to  the  Cabinet  in  Niks' s  Register, 
XLV.,  73-77;  it  is  also  in  the  Cong.  Globe,  1833-35,  !•>  PP-  59~°2;  °f  tne 


2QO  REMOVAL  OF  THE  DEPOSITS  [Sept.  18 

correspondence  relative  to  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  in  Senate  Doc.  2,  2jd 
Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  pp.  32-36.  The  removal  of  the  deposits  was  the  principal 
subject  of  debate  in  the  session  of  Congress  which  met  Dec.  2,  1833;  for 
references  to  documents,  see  later,  under  Nos.  62  and  64.  See  also  Parton's 
Jackson,  III.,  chaps.  36,  37  ;  Sumner's  Jackson,  291-304;  Tyler's  1'aney, 
chap.  3;  White's  Money  and  Banking,  298-310;  Benton's  J^hirty  Years' 
View,  I.,  chaps.  92-102.  Numerous  documents  are  collected  in  Niles's  Regis 
ter,  XLV.,  XLVI. 


No.    57.     Jackson's  Paper   read  to  the  Cabinet 

September  18,  1833 

Having  carefully  and  anxiously  considered  all  the  facts  and 
arguments,  which  have  been  submitted  to  him,  relative  to  a  removal 
of  the  public  deposites  from  the  bank  of  the  United  States,  the 
president  deems  it  his  duty,  to  communicate  in  this  manner  to  his 
cabinet  the  final  conclusions  of  his  own  mind,  and  the  reasons  on 
which  they  are  founded,  in  order  to  put  them  in  durable  form,  and 
to  prevent  misconceptions. 

[The  paper  then  reviews  the  controversy  with  the  bank,  and 
particularly  the  efforts  to  obtain  a  renewal  of  the  charter,  and 
continues :] 

The  power  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  over  the  deposites  is 
unqualified.  The  provision  that  he  shall  report  his  reasons  to 
congress,  is  no  limitation.  Had  it  not  been  inserted,  he  would 
have  been  responsible  to  congress,  had  he  made  a  removal  for  any 
other  than  good  reasons,  and  his  responsibility  now  ceases,  upon 
the  rendition  of  sufficient  ones  to  congress.  The  only  object  of 
the  provision,  is  to  make  his  reasons  accessible  to  congress,  and 
enable  that  body  the  more  readily  to  judge  of  their  soundness 
and  purity,  and  thereupon  to  make  such  further  provision  by  law 
as  the  legislative  power  may  think  proper  in  relation  to  the  deposite 
of  the  public  money.  Those  reasons  may  be  very  diversified.  It  was 
asserted  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  without  contradiction,  as 
early  as  1817,  that  he  had  power  "  to  control  the  proceedings" 
of  the  bank  of  the  United  States  at  any  moment,  "  by  changing 
the  deposites  to  the  state  banks,"  should  it  pursue  an  illibere 
course  towards  those  institutions ;  that  "  the  secretary  of  the  treas 
ury  will  always  be  disposed  to  support  the  credit  of  the  state  ban\  , 
and  will  invariably  direct  transfers  from  the  deposites  of  the  pu  c 


1833]  PAPER   READ  TO  THE  CABINET  2QI 

money  in  aid  of  their  legitimate  exertions  to  maintain  their  credit," 
and  he  asserted  a  right  to  employ  the  state  banks  when  the  bank 
of  the  United  States  should  refuse  to  receive  on  deposite  the  notes 
of  such  state  banks  as  the  public  interest  required  should  be 
received  in  payment  of  the  public  dues.  In  several  instances  he 
did  transfer  the  public  deposites  to  state  banks,  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  branches,  for  reasons  connected  only  with  the  safety 
of  those  banks,  the  public  convenience  and  the  interests  of  the 
treasury. 

If  it  was  lawful  for  Mr.  Crawford,  the  secretary  of  the  treasury 
at  that  time,  to  act  on  these  principles,  it  will  be  difficult  to  dis 
cover  any  sound  reason  against  the  application  of  similar  principles 
in  still  stronger  cases.  And  it  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that  a  power 
which,  in  the  infancy  of  the  bank,  was  freely  asserted  as  one  of  the 
ordinary  and  familiar  duties  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  should 
now  be  gravely  questioned,  and  attempts  made  to  excite  and  alarm 
the  public  mind  as  if  some  new  and  unheard  of  power  was  about 
to  be  usurped  by  the  executive  branch  of  the  government. 

It  is  but  a  little  more  than  two  and  a  half  years  to  the  termina 
tion  of  the  charter  of  the  present  bank.  It  is  considered  as  the 
decision  of  the  country  that  it  shall  then  cease  to  exist,  and  no 
man,  the  president  believes,  has  reasonable  ground  for  expectation 
that  any  other  bank  of  the  United  States  will  be  created  by  Con 
gress.  ...  It  is  obvious  that  any  new  system  which  may  be 
substituted  in  the  place  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States,  could  not 
be  suddenly  carried  into  effect  on  the  termination  of  its  existence 
without  serious  inconvenience  to  the  government  and  the  people. 
Its  vast  amount  of  notes  are  then  to  be  redeemed  and  with 
drawn  from  circulation,  and  its  immense  debt  collected.  These 
operations  must  be  gradual,  otherwise  much  suffering  and  distress 
will  be  brought  upon  the  community.  It  ought  to  be  not  a  work  of 
months  only,  but  of  years,  and  the  president  thinks  it  cannot,  with 
due  attention  to  the  interests  of  the  people,  be  longer  postponed. 
It  is  safer  to  begin  it  too  soon  than  to  delay  it  too  long. 

It  is  for  the  wisdom  of  Congress  to  decide  upon  the  best  substi 
tute  to  be  adopted  in  the  place  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States ; 
and  the  president  would  have  felt  himself  relieved  from  a  heavy  and 
painful  responsibility  if  in  the  charter  of  the  bank,  congress  had 
received  to  itself  the  power  of  directing  at  its  pleasure,  the  public 
money  to  be  elsewhere  deposited,  and  had  not  devolved  that 


2Q2  REMOVAL  OF  THE   DEPOSITS  [Sept.  18 

power  exclusively  on  one  of  the  executive  departments.  .  .  .  But 
as  the  president  presumes  that  the  charter  to  the  bank  is  to  be 
considered  as  a  contract  on  the  part  of  the  government,  it  is  not 
now  in  the  power  of  congress  to  disregard  its  stipulations ;  and  by 
the  terms  of  that  contract  the  public  money  is  to  be  deposited  in 
the  bank,  during  the  continuance  of  its  charter,  unless  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury  shall  otherwise  direct.  Unless,  therefore,  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury  first  acts,  congress  have  no  power  over 
the  subject,  for  they  cannot  add  a  new  clause  to  the  charter  or 
strike  one  out  of  it  without  the  consent  of  the  bank ;  and  conse 
quently  the  public  money  must  remain  in  that  institution  to  the 
last  hour  of  its  existence,  unless  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  shall 
remove  it  at  an  earlier  day. 

The  responsibility  is  thus  thrown  upon  the  executive  branch  of 
the  government,  of  deciding  how  long  before  the  expiration  of  the 
charter,  the  public  interests  will  require  the  deposites  to  be  placed 
elsewhere.  .  .  .  and  it  being  the  duty  of  one  of  the  executive 
departments  to  decide  in  the  first  instance,  subject  to  the  future 
action  of  the  legislative  power,  whether  the  public  deposites  shall 
remain  in  the  bank  of  the  United  States  until  the  end  of  its  exist 
ence,  or  be  withdrawn  some  time  before,  the  president  has  felt 
himself  bound  to  examine  the  question  carefully  and  deliberately 
in  order  to  make  up  his  judgment  on  the  subject :  and  in  his 
opinion  the  near  approach  of  the  termination  of  the  charter,  and 
the  public  considerations  heretofore  mentioned,  are  of  themselves 
amply  sufficient  to  justify  the  removal  of  the  deposites  without 
reference  to  the  conduct  of  the  bank,  or  their  safety  in  its  keeping. 

But  in  the  conduct  of  the  bank  may  be  found  other  reasons  very 
imperative  in  their  character,  and  which  require  prompt  action. 
Developments  have  been  made  from  time  to  time  of  its  faithless 
ness  as  a  public  agent,  its  misapplication  of  public  funds,  its  inter 
ference  in  elections,  its  efforts,  by  the  machinery  of  committees, 
to  deprive  the  government  directors  of  a  full  knowledge  of  its  con 
cerns,  and  above  all,  its  flagrant  misconduct  as  recently  and  unex 
pectedly  disclosed  in  placing  all  the  funds  of  the  bank,  including  the 
money  of  the  government,  at  the  disposition  of  the  president  of  the 
bank,  as  means  of  operating  upon  public  opinion,  and  procuring  a 
new  charter,  without  requiring  him  to  render  a  voucher  for  their  dis 
bursement.  A  brief  recapitulation  of  facts  which  justify  these  charges 
and  which  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  public  and  the  presi- 


1 833]  PAPER   READ   TO  THE  CABINET  2Q3 

dent,  will,  he  thinks,  remove  every  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  course 
which  it  is  now  the  duty  of  the  president  to  pursue. 

[An  extended  examination  of  these  various  charges  here  follows.] 
It  has  been  alleged  by  some  as  an  objection  to  the  removal  of 
the  deposites,  that  the  bank  has  the  power,  and  in  that  event  will 
have  the  disposition,  to  destroy  the  state  banks  employed  by  the 
government,  and  bring  distress  upon  the  country.  It  has  been 
the  fortune  of  the  president  to  encounter  dangers  which  were 
represented  as  equally  alarming,  and  he  has  seen  them  vanish 
before  resolution  and  energy.  .  .  .  The  president  verily  believes 
the  bank  has  not  the  power  to  produce  the  calamities  its  friends 
threaten.  The  funds  of  the  government  will  not  be  annihilated  by 
being  transferred.  They  will  immediately  be  issued  for  the  benefit 
of  trade,  and  if  the  bank  of  the  United  States  curtails  its  loans, 
the  state  banks,  strengthened  by  the  public  deposites,  will  extend 
theirs.  What  comes  in  through  one  bank,  will  go  out  through 
others,  and  the  equilibrium  will  be  preserved.  Should  the  bank, 
for  the  mere  purpose  of  producing  distress,  press  its  debtors  more 
heavily  than  some  of  them  can  bear,  the  consequences  will  recoil 
upon  itself,  and  in  the  attempts  to  embarrass  the  country,  it  will 
only  bring  loss  and  ruin  upon  the  holders  of  its  own  stock.  But  if 
the  president  believed  the  bank  possessed  all  the  power  which  has 
been  attributed  to  it,  his  determination  would  only  be  rendered  the 
more  inflexible.  If,  indeed,  this  corporation  now  holds  in  its 
hands  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  American  people,  it  is 
high  time  to  take  the  alarm.  If  the  despotism  be  already  upon  us, 
and  our  only  safety  is  in  the  mercy  of  the  despot,  recent  develop 
ments  in  relation  to  his  designs  and  the  means  he  employs,  show 
how  necessary  it  is  to  shake  it  off.  The  struggle  can  never  come 
with  less  distress  to  the  people,  or  under  more  favorable  auspices 
than  at  the  present  moment. 

All  doubts  as  to  the  willingness  of  state  banks  to  undertake  the 
service  of  the  government,  to  the  same  extent,  and  on  the  same, 
terms,  as  it  is  now  performed  by  the  banks  [bank]  of  the  United 
States,  is  put  to  rest  by  the  report  of  the  agent  recently  employed 
to  collect  information  ;  and  from  that  willingness,  their  own  safety 
in  the  operation  may  be  confidently  inferred.  Knowing  their  own 
resources  better  than  they  can  be  known  by  others,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  they  would  be  willing  to  place  themselves  in  a 
situation  which  they  cannot  occupy  without  danger  of  annihilation 


294  REMOVAL   OF  THE  DEPOSITS  [Sept.  18 

or  embarrassment.  The  only  consideration  applies  to  the  safety  of 
the  public  funds,  if  deposited  in  those  institutions.  And  when  it  is 
seen  that  the  directors  of  many  of  them  are  not  only  willing  to 
pledge  the  character  and  capital  of  the  corporations  in  giving 
success  to  this  measure,  but  also  their  own  property  and  reputa 
tion,  we  cannot  doubt  that  they,  at  least,  believe  the  public  de- 
posites  would  be  safe  in  their  management.  The  president  thinks 
that  these  facts  and  circumstances  afford  as  strong  a  guarantee  as 
can  be  had  in  human  affairs,  for  the  safety  of  the  public  funds, 
and  the  practicability  of  a  new  system  of  collection  and  disburse 
ment  through  the  agency  of  the  state  banks. 

From  all  these  considerations  the  president  thinks  that  the 
state  banks  ought  immediately  to  be  employed  in  the  collection 
and  disbursement  of  the  public  revenue,  and  the  funds  now  in 
the  bank  of  the  United  States  drawn  out  with  all  convenient 
despatch.  .  .  . 

*********** 

In  conclusion  the  president  must  be  permitted  to  remark  that  he 
looks  upon  the  pending  question  as  of  higher  consideration  than  the 
mere  transfer  of  a  sum  of  money  from  one  bank  to  another.  Its 
decision  may  affect  the  character  of  our  government  for  ages  to 
come.  Should  the  bank  be  suffered  longer  to  use  the  public 
moneys,  in  the  accomplishment  of  its  purposes,  with  the  proofs  of 
its  faithlessness  and  corruption  before  our  eyes,  the  patriotic  among 
our  citizens  will  despair  of  success  in  struggling  against  its  power ; 
and  we  shall  be  responsible  for  entailing  it  upon  our  country 
forever.  Viewing  it  as  a  question  of  transcendant  importance, 
both  in  the  principles  and  consequences  it  involves,  the  president 
could  not,  in  justice  to  the  responsibility  which  he  owes  to  the 
country,  refrain  from  pressing  upon  the  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
his  view  of  the  considerations  which  impel  to  immediate  action. 
Upon  him  has  been  devolved  by  the  constitution  and  the  suffrages 
of  the  American  people,  the  duty  of  superintending  the  operation 
of  the  executive  departments  of  the  government,  and  seeing  that 
the  laws  are  faithfully  executed.  In  the  performance  of  this  high 
trust,  it  is  his  undoubted  right  to  express  to  those  whom  the  laws 
and  his  own  choice  have  made  his  associates  in  the  administration 
of  the  government,  his  opinion  of  their  duties  under  circumstances 
as  they  arise.  It  is  this  right  which  he  now  exercises.  Far  be  it 
from  him  to  expect  or  require,  that  any  member  of  the  cabinet 


1833]  TANEY'S   INSTRUCTIONS  295 

should,  at  his  request,  order  or  dictation,  do  any  act  which  he 
believes  unlawful,  or  in  his  conscience  condemns.  From  them 
and  from  his  fellow  citizens  in  general,  he  desires  only  that  aid 
and  support,  which  their  reason  approves  and  their  conscience 
sanctions. 

In  the  remarks  he  has  made  on  this  all  important  question, 
he  trusts  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  will  see  only  the  frank 
and  respectful  declarations  of  the  opinions  which  the  president 
has  formed  on  a  measure  of  great  national  interest,  deeply  affecting 
the  character  and  usefulness  of  his  administration ;  and  not  a 
spirit  of  dictation,  which  the  president  would  be  as  careful  to 
avoid,  as  ready  to  resist.  Happy  will  he  be,  if  the  facts  now  dis 
closed  produce  uniformity  of  opinion  and  unity  of  action  among 
the  members  of  the  administration. 

The  president  again  repeats  that  he  begs  his  cabinet  to  con 
sider  the  proposed  measure  as  his  own,  in  the  support  of  which  he 
shall  require  no  one  of  them  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  opinion  or 
principle.  Its  responsibility  has  been  assumed,  after  the  most 
mature  deliberation  and  reflection,  as  necessary  to  preserve  the 
morals  of  the  people,  the  freedom  of  the  press  and  the  purity  of 
the  elective  franchise,  without  which  all  will  unite  in  saying  that 
the  blood  and  treasure  expended  by  our  forefathers  in  the  estab 
lishment  of  our  happy  system  of  government  will  have  been  vain 
and  fruitless.  Under  these  convictions,  he  feels  that  a  measure 
so  important  to  the  American  people  cannot  be  commenced  too 
soon ;  and  he  therefore  names  the  first  day  of  October  next,  as  a 
period  proper  for  the  change  of  the  deposites,  or  sooner,  provided 
the  necessary  arrangements  with  the  state  banks  can  be  made. 

ANDREW  JACKSON. 


No.   58.    Taney's  Instructions  to  the   Collector 
at   Philadelphia 

September  26,  1833 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

September  26,  1833. 

SIR  :  Believing  that  the  public  interest  requires  that  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  should  cease  to  be  the  depository  of  the 


296  REMOVAL  OF  THE   DEPOSITS  [Sept.  26 

money  of  the  United  States,  I  have  determined  to  use  the  State 
banks  as  places  of  deposites ;'  and  have  selected  for  that  purpose, 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  the  Girard  Bank. 

You  will,  therefore,  present  the  enclosed  draft  of  a  contract  to 
that  bank  ;  and,  upon  the  execution  of  the  contract,  you  will 
forward  it  to  this  department.  You  will  ask  the  aid  of  the  District 
Attorney  of  the  United  States,  who  will  see  that  the  contract  is 
executed  in  due  form  under  the  corporate  seal.  The  contract 
being  executed,  you  will  then  deposite  all  of  the  public  money 
which  may  come  to  your  hands  after  the  thirtieth  day  of  this 
present  month  of  September,  in  the  bank  above  mentioned,  until 
the  further  order  of  this  department.  You  will  also  deposite  in 
the  said  bank,  for  collection,  all  the  bonds  which  may  hereafter 
be  taken  for  the  payment  of  duties. 

You  will  also  call  on  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  at  Philadel 
phia,  and  receive  from  it  all  bonds  hereafter  given  to  the  United 
States,  which  are  payable  on  or  after  the  first  day  of  October 
next,  and  deposite  them  for  collection  in  the  aforesaid  State  bank. 
I  send  you,  herewith,  an  order  on  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
for  that  purpose. 

When  the  contract  shall  have  been  executed  by  the  State  bank, 
you  will  forward  the  enclosed  letters  to  the  collectors,  at  Bridge 
town,  Burlington,  Great  Egg  harbor,  and  Little  Egg  harbor,  who 
have  heretofore  deposited  the  money  received  by  them  in  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States. 

You  will  continue  to  deposite  as  usual,  in  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  until  the  thirtieth  of  this  present  month  of  September, 
inclusive. 

You  will  keep  a  copy  of  the  contract  executed  by  the  bank, 
and,  from  time  to  time,  advise  this  department  of  any  thing  you 
may  deem  material  to  the  public  interest,  connected  with  the 
change  of  the  deposites. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

R.  B.  TANEY, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
To  JAMES  N.  BARKER,  ESQ., 

Collector,  Philadelphia. 


1833]  TANEY'S   INSTRUCTIONS  297 

No.  59.     Taney  to  the  Girard  Bank 

September  26,  1833 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

September  26,  1833. 

SIR  :  The  Girard  Bank  has  been  selected  by  this  department  as 
the  depository  of  the  public  money  collected  in  Philadelphia  and 
its  vicinity  ;  and  the  collector  at  Philadelphia  will  hand  you  the 
form  of  a  contract  proposed  to  be  executed,  with  a  copy  of  his 
instructions  from  this  department. 

In  selecting  your  institution  as  one  of  the  fiscal  agents  of  the 
Government,  1  not  only  rely  on  its  solidity  and  established  char 
acter,  as  affording  a  sufficient  guaranty  for  the  safety  of  the  public 
money  intrusted  to  its  keeping ;  but  I  confide  also  in  its  disposi 
tion  to  adopt  the  most  liberal  course,  which  circumstances  will 
admit,  towards  other  moneyed  institutions  generally,  and  particu 
larly  to  those  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

The  deposites  of  public  money  will  enable  you  to  afford  increased 
facilities  to  commerce,  and  to  extend  your  accommodation  to 'indi 
viduals  ;  and  as  the  duties  which  are  payable  to  the  Government 
arise  from  the  business  and  enterprise  of  the  merchants  engaged 
in  'foreign  trade,  it  is  but  reasonable  that  they  should  be  preferred 
in  the  additional  accommodation  which  the  public  deposites  will 
enable  your  institution  to  give,  whenever  it  can  be  done  without 
injustice  to  the  claims  of  other  classes  of  the  community. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

R.  B.  TANEY, 
Secretary  of  Treasury. 

To  the  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  GIRARD  BANK, 
Philadelphia. 


298  REMOVAL  OF  THE  DEPOSITS  [Sept.  28 

No.  60.     Taney  to  the  Bank  of  the  United 

States 

September  26,  1833 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

September  26,  1833. 

SIR  :  You  will  deliver  to  the  collector  at  Philadelphia  all  bonds 
to  the  United  States,  payable  on  or  after  the  first  of  October  next, 
which  may  be  in  your  possession  on  the  receipt  of  this  order. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

R.  B.  TANEY, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

NICHOLAS  BIDDLE,  ESQ., 
President  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  Philadelphia. 


No.  61.     Contract  between  the  Girard  Bank 
and  the  United  States 

September  28,  1833 

i  st.  The  said  bank  agrees  to  receive,  and  enter  to  the  credit  of 
the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  all  sums  of  money  offered  to 
be  deposited  on  account  of  the  United  States,  whether  offered  in 
gold  or  silver  coin,  in  notes  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  or 
branches,  in  notes  of  any  bank  which  are  convertible  into  coin  in 
its  immediate  vicinity,  or  in  notes  of  any  bank  which  it  is,  for  the 
time  being,  in  the  habit  of  receiving. 

2.  If  the  deposite  in  said  bank  shall  exceed  one-half  of  its  capi 
tal  stock  actually  paid  in,  it  is  agreed  that  collateral  security,  sat 
isfactory  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  shall  be  given  for  its 
safe  keeping  and  faithful  disbursement :  Provided,  that,  if  the  said 
Secretary  shall  at  any  time  deem  it  necessary,  the  bank  agrees  to 
give  collateral  security  when  the  deposite  shall  not  equal  one-half 
the  capital. 


'833]  CONTRACT  WITH   GIRARD   BANK  299 

3.  The  said  bank  agrees  to  make  weekly  returns  of  its  entire 
condition  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  to  the  Treasurer 
of  the  United  States  of  the  state  of  his  account,  and  to  submit  its 
books  and  transactions  to  a  critical  examination  by  the  Secretary, 
or  any  agent  duly  authorized  by  him,  whenever  he  shall  require  it. 

This  examination  may  extend  to  all  the  books  and  accounts,  to 
the  cash  on  hand,  and  to  all  the  acts  and  concerns  of  the  bank, 
except  the  current  accounts  of  individuals ;  or  as  far  as  is  admis 
sible  without  a  violation  of  the  bank  charter. 

4.  The  said  bank  agrees  to  pay,  out  of  the  deposite  on  hand,  all 
warrants  or  drafts  which  may  be  drawn  upon  it  by  the  Treasurer 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  transfer  any  portion  of  that  deposite 
to  any  other  bank  or  banks  employed  by  the  Government  within 
the  United  States,  whenever  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may 
require  it,  without  charge  to  the  Government  for  transportation  or 
difference  of  exchange,  commission,  or  any  thing  else  whatever ; 
but  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  give  a  reasonable  notice  of 
the  time  when  such  transfer  will  be  required. 

5.  The  said  bank  agrees  to  render  to  the  Government,  when 
ever  required  by  the  proper  authority,  all  or  any  portion  of  the 
services   now  performed  by  the  Bank  of  the  United   States,  or 
which  might  be  lawfully  required  of  it  in  the  vicinity  of  said  con 
tracting  bank. 

6.  If  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  think  proper  to  employ 
an  agent  or  agents  to  examine  and  report  upon  the  accounts  and 
condition  of  the  banks  in  the  service  of  the  Government,  or  any 
of  them,  the  said  bank  agrees  to  pay  an  equitable  proportion  of 
his  or  their  expenses  and  compensation,  according  to  such  appor 
tionment  as  may  be  made  by  the  said  Secretary. 

7.  Whenever  required  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the 
said  bank  agrees  to  furnish,  with  all  convenient  despatch,  bills  of 
exchange  on  London,  payable  at  such  sight  as  may  be  required, 
at  the  usual  market  price  for  the  time  being,  without  commission 
or  advance  for  the  profit  of  said  bank,  or  any  charge  whatsoever 
beyond  the  actual  cost ;  the  payment  of  said  bills  to  be  guaranteed 
by  said  bank. 

8.  It  is  agreed  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  discharge 
the  said  bank  from  the  service  of  the  Government  whenever,  in  his 
opinion,  the  public  interest  may  require  it.    In  witness  whereof,  the 
said  The  Girard  Bank  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  has  caused  to  be 


300  JACKSON'S  FIFTH   MESSAGE  [Dec.  3 

affixed  its  corporate  seal,  attested  by  the  signatures  of  its  president 
and  cashier,  on  the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 

rL  s  -|  JAS.  SCHOTT,  President. 

WM.  D.  LEWIS,  Cashier. 


No.   62.  The  Bank   Controversy:    Jackson's 
Fifth  Annual  Message 

December  3,  1833 

THE  affairs  of  the  bank  furnished  the  chief  subject  for  discussion  in  the 
first  session  of  the  twenty-third  Congress.  There  was  a  strong  majority  in 
favor  of  the  Administration  in  the  House,  while  in  the  Senate  the  majority 
was  in  favor  of  the  bank.  The  annual  message  of  Dec.  3,  1833,  gave  Jack 
son's  version  of  the  reasons  for  removing  the  deposits.  Taney  made  an  elab 
orate  statement  of  reasons  in  a  special  communication  of  Dec.  4.  A  report 
submitted  March  4,  by  Polk  of  Tennessee,  from  the  House  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means,  against  the  recharter  of  the  bank  and  the  restoration  of  the  de 
posits,  and  in  favor  of  the  use  of  State  banks  as  places  of  deposit,  was  debated 
until  April  4,  when  the  resolutions  accompanying  the  report  were  agreed  to. 
A  select  committee  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the  bank  reported  May  22: 
the  minority  report  sustained  the  bank,  while  the  majority  report  "complained 
that  the  powers  of  the  committee  had  been  so  restricted  by  the  bank  that  a 
full  investigation  had  been  impossible."  Thirty  thousand  extra  copies  of  the 
report  were  ordered  printed.  A  bill  regulating  the  United  States  deposits  in 
local  banks,  reported  by  Polk  April  22,  passed  the  House  June  24,  by  a  vote 
of  1 12  to  90,  but  was  laid  on  the  table  in  the  Senate.  The  proceedings  of  the 
Senate  in  this  session  are  noticed  later  [No.  64],  in  connection  with  Jackson's 
protest  against  the  resolution  of  censure. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  of  the  message  in  House  and  Senate  Journals,  23d 
Cong.,  1st  Sess.;  the  extract  here  given  is  from  the  Senate  Journal,  15-17. 
For  the  proceedings  of  the  House,  see  the  Journal ;  for  the  debates,  see 
Cong.  Debates,  or  Cong.  Globe,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XII.  Taney's  report 
of  Dec.  4,  with  accompanying  documents,  is  Senate  Doc.  2,  also  House 
Exec.  Doc.  2.  The  House  and  Senate  documents  contain  a  great  number 
of  memorials  for  and  against  the  removal  of  the  deposits.  For  Folk's  report 
of  March  4,  see  House  Rep.  312 ;  for  Binney's  minority  report,  see  House 
Rep.  313.  Folk's  report  of  April  22,  on  the  mode  of  selecting  the  deposit 
banks,  is  House  Rep.  422  :  Taney's  views  are  included.  Thomas's  report  of 
May  22,  from  the  select  committee  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the  bank,  is 
House  Rep.  481. 

Since  the  last  adjournment  of  Congress,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  has  directed  the  money  of  the  United  States  to  be 


1833]  JACKSON'S   FIFTH   MESSAGE  30! 

deposited  in  certain  State  banks  designated  by  him,  and  he  will 
immediately  lay  before  you  his  reasons  for  this  direction.  I  con 
cur  with  him  entirely  in  the  view  he  has  taken  of  the  subject ; 
and,  some  months  before  the  removal,  I  urged  upon  the  depart 
ment  the  propriety  of  taking  that  step.  The  near  approach  of 
the  day  on  which  the  charter  will  expire,  as  well  as  the  conduct 
of  the  bank,  appeared  to  me  to  call  for  this  measure  upon  the 
high  considerations  of  public  interest  and  public  duty.  The 
extent  of  its  misconduct,  however,  although  known  to  be  great, 
was  not  at  that  time  fully  developed  by  proof.  It  was  not  until 
late  in  the  month  of  August,  that  I  received  from  the  Government 
directors  an  official  report,  establishing  beyond  question  that  this 
great  and  powerful  institution  had  been  actively  engaged  in 
attempting  to  influence  the  elections  of  the  public  officers  by 
means  of  its  money;  and  that,  in  violation  of  the  express  pro 
visions  of  its  charter,  it  had,  by  a  formal  resolution,  placed  its 
funds  at  the  disposition  of  its  President,  to  be  employed  in 
sustaining  the  political  power  of  the  bank.  A  copy  of  this  reso 
lution  is  contained  in  the  report  of  the  Government  directors, 
before  referred  to ;  and  however  the  object  may  be  disguised 
by  cautious  language,  no  one  can  doubt  that  this  money  was  in 
truth  intended  for  electioneering  purposes,  and  the  particular  uses 
to  which  it  was  proved  to  have  been  applied,  abundantly  show 
that  it  was  so  understood.  Not  only  was  the  evidence  complete 
as  to  the  past  application  of  the  money  and  power  of  the  bank  to 
electioneering  purposes,  but  that  the  resolution  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  authorized  the  same  course  to  be  pursued  in  future. 

It  being  thus  established,  by  unquestionable  proof,  that  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  was  converted  into  a  permanent  elec 
tioneering  engine,  it  appeared  to  me  that  the  path  of  duty  which 
the  Executive  department  of  the  Government  ought  to  pursue, 
was  not  doubtful.  As  by  the  terms  of  the  bank  charter,  no  officer 
but  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  could  remove  the  deposites,  it 
seemed  to  me  that  this  authority  ought  to  be  at  once  exerted  to 
deprive  that  great  corporation  of  the  support  and  countenance 
of  the  Government  in  such  an  use  of  its  funds,  and  such  an  exertion 
of  its  power.  In  this  point  of  the  case,  the  question  is  distinctly 
presented,  whether  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  to  govern 
through  representatives  chosen  by  their  unbiassed  suffrages,  or 
whether  the  money  and  power  of  a  great  corporation  are  to  be 


302  JACKSON'S  FIFTH    MESSAGE  [Dec.  3 

secretly  exerted  to  influence  their  judgment,  and  control  their 
decisions.  It  must  now  be  determined  whether  the  bank  is  to 
have  its  candidates  for  all  offices  in  the  country  from  the  highest 
to  the  lowest,  or  whether  candidates  on  both  sides  of  political 
questions  shall  be  brought  forward  as  heretofore,  and  supported 
by  the  usual  means. 

At  this  time,  the  efforts  of  the  bank  to  control  public  opinion, 
through  the  distresses  of  some  and  the  fears  of  others,  are  equally 
apparent,  and,  if  possible,  more  objectionable.  By  a  curtailment 
of  its  accommodations,  more  rapid  than  any  emergency  requires, 
and  even  while  it  retains  specie  to  an  almost  unprecedented  amount 
in  its  vaults,  it  is  attempting  to  produce  great  embarrassment  in 
one  portion  of  the  community,  while,  through  presses  known  to 
have  been  sustained  by  its  money,  it  attempts,  by  unfounded 
alarms,  to  create  a  panic  in  all. 

These  are  the  means  by  which  it  seems  to  expect  that  it  can 
force  a  restoration  of  the  deposites,  and,  as  a  necessary  conse 
quence,  extort  from  Congress  a  renewal  of  its  charter.  I  am 
happy  to  know  that,  through  the  good  sense  of  our  people,  the 
effort  to  get  up  a  panic  has  hitherto  failed,  and  that,  through  the 
increased  accommodations  which  the  State  banks  have  been 
enabled  to  afford,  no  public  distress  has  followed  the  exertions 
of  the  bank ;  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  exercise  of  its 
power,  and  the  expenditure  of  its  money,  as  well  as  its  efforts  to 
spread  groundless  alarm,  will  be  met,  and  rebuked  as  they  deserve. 
In  my  own  sphere  of  duty,  I  should  feel  myself  called  on  by  the 
facts  disclosed,  to  order  a  scire  facias  against  the  bank,  with  a  view 
to  put  an  end  to  the  chartered  rights  it  has  so  palpably  violated, 
were  it  not  that  the  charter  itself  will  expire  as  soon  as  a  decision 
would  probably  be  obtained  from  the  court  of  last  resort. 

I  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  this  subject  in  my  last 
annual  message,  and  informed  them  that  such  measures  as  were 
within  the  reach  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  had  been  taken 
to  enable  him  to  judge  whether  the  public  deposites  in  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  were  entirely  safe ;  but  that  as  his  single 
powers  might  be  inadequate  to  the  object,  I  recommended  the 
subject  to  Congress  as  worthy  of  their  serious  investigation; 
declaring  it,  as  my  opinion,  that  an  inquiry  into  the  transactions 
of  that  institution,  embracing  the  branches  as  well  as  the  principal 
bank,  was  called  for  by  the  credit  which  was  given  throughout  the 


1833]  JACKSON'S   FIFTH   MESSAGE  303 

country  to  many  serious  charges  impeaching  their  character,  and 
which,  if  true,  might  justly  excite  the  apprehension  that  they  were 
no  longer  a  safe  depository  for  the  public  money.  The  extent  to 
which  the  examination,  thus  recommended,  was  gone  into,  is  spread 
upon  your  journals,  and  is  too  well  known  to  require  to  be  stated. 
Such  as  was  made,  resulted  in  a  report  from  a  majority  of  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  touching  certain  specified  points 
only,  concluding  with  a  resolution  that  the  Government  deposites 
might  safely  be  continued  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  This 
resolution  was  adopted  at  the  close  of  the  session  by  the  vote  of 
a  majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Although  I  may  not  always  be  able  to  concur  in  the  views  of 
the  public  interest,  or  the  duties  of  its  agents,  which  may  be  taken 
by  the  other  departments  of  the  Government,  or  either  of  its 
branches,  I  am,  notwithstanding,  wholly  incapable  of  receiving, 
otherwise  than  with  the  most  sincere  respect,  all  opinions  or 
suggestions  proceeding  from  such  a  source ;  and  in  respect  to 
none  am  I  more  inclined  to  do  so  than  to  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives.  But  it  will  be  seen  from  the  brief  views  at  this  time 
taken  of  the  subject  by  myself,  as  well  as  the  more  ample  ones 
presented  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  that  the  change  in  the 
deposites  which  has  been  ordered,  has  been  deemed  to  be  called 
for  by  considerations  which  are  not  affected  by  the  proceedings 
referred  to,  and  which,  if  correctly  viewed  by  that  department, 
rendered  its  act  a  matter  of  imperious  duty. 

Coming,  as  you  do  for  the  most  part,  immediately  from  the 
people  and  the  States,  by  election,  and  possessing  the  fullest 
opportunity  to  know  their  sentiments,  the  present  Congress  will 
be  sincerely  solicitous  to  carry  into  full  and  fair  effect  the  will  of 
their  constituents  in  regard  to  this  institution.  It  will  be  for  those 
in  whose  behalf  we  all  act,  to  decide  whether  the  Executive  Depart 
ment  of  the  Government,  in  the  steps  which  it  has  taken  on  this 
subject,  has  been  found  in  the  line  of  its  duty. 


304  AMERICAN   ANTI-SLAVERY   SOCIETY  [Dec.  4 

No.   63.     Constitution   of   the    American   Anti- 
Slavery  Society 

December  4,  1833 

A  CALL  for  a  convention,  to  meet  Dec.  4,  1833,  a^  Philadelphia,  to  form  an 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  was  issued  Oct.  29,  over  the  signatures  of 
Arthur  Tappan,  Joshua  Leavitt,  and  Elizur  Wright,  Jr.,  officers  of  the  New 
York  City  Anti-Slavery  Society.  About  sixty  delegates  assembled  at  the  ap 
pointed  time,  and  adopted  a  constitution,  together  with  a  "  Declaration  of 
Sentiments,"  the  original  draft  of  the  latter  being  drawn  by  William  Lloyd 
Garrison. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  Platform  of  the  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society  and  its  Auxiliaries  (New  York,  1855),  PP-  3>  4'  The 
fullest  account  of  the  convention  is  in  William  Lloyd  Garrison  :  Story  of  his 
Life  told  by  his  Children,  I.,  392-415,  where  is  also  a  copy  of  the  Declaration. 
The  Declaration  is  also  in  the  pamphlet  above  cited.  For  Whittier's  account, 
see  Atlantic  Monthly,  XXXIIL,  166-172  (February,  1874). 

Whereas  the  Most  High  God  "hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,"  and  hath 
commanded  them  to  love  their  neighbors  as  themselves ;  and 
whereas,  our  National  Existence  is  based  upon  this  principle,  as 
recognized  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  "  that  all  mankind 
are  created  equal,  and  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 
with  certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which  are  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness  "  ;  and  whereas,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly 
sixty  years,  since  the  faith  and  honor  of  the  American  people  were 
pledged  to  this  avowal,  before  Almighty  God  and  the  World,  nearly 
one-sixth  part  of  the  nation  are  held  in  bondage  by  their  fellow- 
citizens  ;  and  whereas,  Slavery  is  contrary  to  the  principles  of 
natural  justice,  of  our  republican  form  of  government,  and  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  is  destructive  of  the  prosperity  of  the 
country,  while  it  is  endangering  the  peace,  union,  and  liberties  of 
the  States  ;  and  whereas,  we  believe  it  the  duty  and  interest  of  the 
masters  immediately  to  emancipate  their  slaves,  and  that  no  scheme 
of  expatriation,  either  voluntary  or  by  compulsion,  can  remove  this 
great  and  increasing  evil ;  and  whereas,  we  believe  that  it  is  prac 
ticable,  by  appeals  to  the  consciences,  hearts,  and  interests  of  the 
people,  to  awaken  a  public  sentiment  throughout  the  nation  that 
will  be  opposed  to  the  continuance  of  Slavery  in  any  part  of  the 
Republic,  and  by  effecting  the  speedy  abolition  of  Slavery,  prevent 


1833]  AMERICAN  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY  305 

a  general  convulsion ;  and  whereas,  we  believe  we  owe  it  to  the 
oppressed,  to  our  fellow-citizens  who  hold  slaves,  to  our  whole 
country,  to  posterity,  and  to  God,  to  do  all  that  is  lawfully  in  our 
power  to  bring  about  the  extinction  of  Slavery,  we  do  hereby  agree, 
with  a  prayerful  reliance  on  the  Divine  aid,  to  form  ourselves  into 
a  society,  to  be  governed  by  the  following  Constitution  :  — 

ARTICLE  I.  —  This  Society  shall  be  called  the  AMERICAN  ANTI- 
SLAVERY  SOCIETY. 

ARTICLE  II.  —  The  objects  of  this  Society  are  the  entire  aboli 
tion  of  Slavery  in  the  United  States.  While  it  admits  that  each 
State,  in  which  Slavery  exists,  has,  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  exclusive  right  to  legislate  in  regard  to  its 
abolition  in  said  State,  it  shall  aim  to  convince  all  our  fellow- 
citizens,  by  arguments  addressed  to  their  understandings  and  con 
sciences,  that  Slaveholding  is  a  heinous  crime  in  the  sight  of  God, 
and  that  the  duty,  safety,  and  best  interests  of  all  concerned, 
require  its  immediate  abandonment,  without  expatriation.  The 
Society  will  also  endeavor,  in  a  constitutional  way,  to  influence 
Congress  to  put  an  end  to  the  domestic  Slave  trade,  and  to  abolish 
Slavery  in  all  those  portions  of  our  common  country  which  come 
under  its  control,  especially  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  —  and 
likewise  to  prevent  the  extension  of  it  to  any  State  that  may  be 
hereafter  admitted  to  the  Union. 

ARTICLE  III.  —  This  Society  shall  aim  to  elevate  the  character 
and  condition  of  the  people  of  color,  by  encouraging  their  intel 
lectual,  moral,  and  religious  improvement,  and  by  removing  public 
prejudice,  that  thus  they  may,  according  to  their  intellectual  and 
moral  worth,  share  an  equality  with  the  whites,  of  civil  and  religious 
privileges ;  but  this  Society  will  never,  in  any  way,  countenance 
the  oppressed  in  vindicating  their  rights  by  resorting  to  physical 
force. 

ARTICLE  IV.  —  Any  person  who  consents  to  the  principles  of 
this  Constitution,  who  contributes  to  the  funds  of  this  Society,  and 
is  not  a  Slaveholder,  may  be  a  member  of  this  Society,  and  shall 
be  entitled  to  vote  at  the  meetings. 

[The  remaining  six  articles  are  purely  formal.] 
x 


306  JACKSON'S  PROTEST  [April  15 

No.   64.      Jackson's    Protest  against   the   Senate 
Resolution  of  Censure 

April  15,  1834 

TANEY'S  message  of  Dec.  4,  1833,  was  taken  up  in  the  Senate  Dec.  11, 
and,  by  a  vote  of  23  to  18,  a  copy  of  the  paper  read  to  the  Cabinet  was  called 
for.  Although  the  paper  had  been  published,  the  request  of  the  Senate  was 
refused.  On  the  26th  the  consideration  of  Taney's  message  was  resumed, 
and  Clay  offered  two  resolutions,  the  first  disapproving  the  conduct  of  the 
President  in  the  removal  of  Duane,  and  the  second  declaring  Taney's  state 
ment  of  reasons  for  removing  the  deposits  insufficient.  The  resolutions 
formed  the  chief  subject  of  debate  in  the  Senate  for  the  next  three  months. 
December  27  Jackson's  nominations  of  directors  of  the  bank  were  rejected,  by 
a  vote  of  20  to  25.  A  motion  by  Benton,  Jan.  8,  to  summon  Biddle  before  the 
Senate  for  examination,  was  voted  down,  12  to  34.  A  report  from  the  Com 
mittee  on  Finance,  on  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  and  recommending  the 
adoption  of  Clay's  second  resolution,  was  submitted  by  Webster  Feb.  5. 
March  1 8  Webster  moved  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  extend  for  six  years  the 
charter  of  the  bank.  The  motion  was  debated  until  the  25th,  and  then,  by  a 
vote  of  24  to  15,  rejected.  March  28  Clay's  first  resolution,  and  the  resolution 
reported  by  the  Committee  on  Finance,  were  agreed  to,  in  the  following  form : 
I .  "  Resolved,  That  the  reasons  assigned  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  the 
removal  of  the  money  of  the  United  States  deposited  in  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  and  its  branches,  communicated  to  Congress  on  the  4th  day  of  December, 
1833,  are  unsatisfactory  and  insufficient;"  agreed  to,  28  to  18.  2.  "  Resolved, 
That  the  President,  in  the  late  Executive  proceedings  in  relation  to  the  public 
revenue,  has  assumed  upon  himself  authority  and  power  not  conferred  by  the 
constitution  and  laws,  but  in  derogation  of  both;  "  agreed  to,  26  to  20. 

April  15,  in  the  message  from  which  extracts  are  given  below,  Jackson 
protested  against  the  action  of  the  Senate.  The  message  reached  the  Senate 
on  the  1 7th.  Poindexter  at  once  moved  that  it  be  not  received.  Debate  on 
this  motion  was  prolonged  until  May  7,  when  the  following  resolutions  were 
agreed  to  :  I .  "  Resolved,  That  the  protest  communicated  to  the  Senate  on 
the  1 7th  ultimo,  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  asserts  powers  as 
belonging  to  the  President  which  are  inconsistent  with  the  just  authority  of 
the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  and  inconsistent  with  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States;"  agreed  to,  27  to  16.  2.  "  Resolved,  That  while  the  Senate 
is,  and  ever  will  be,  ready  to  receive  from  the  President  all  such  messages  and 
communications  as  the  constitution  and  laws,  and  the  usual  course  of  public 
business,  authorize  him  to  transmit  to  it,  yet  it  cannot  recognize  any  right  in 
him  to  make  a  formal  protest  against  votes  and  proceedings  of  the  Senate, 
declaring  such  votes  and  proceedings  to  be  illegal  and  unconstitutional,  and 
requesting  the  Senate  to  enter  such  protest  on  its  journals;"  agreed  to,  27  to 
16.  3.  "Resolved,  That  the  aforesaid  protest  is  a  breach  of  the  privileges  of 
the  Senate,  and  that  it  be  not  entered  on  the  Journals;  "  agreed  to,  27  to  16. 


1834]  JACKSON'S   PROTEST  307 

4.  "  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  no  right  to  send  a 
protest  to  the  Senate  against  any  of  its  proceedings;  "  agreed  to,  27  to  16. 
June  13  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  a  vote  of  114  to  101,  laid  the  reso 
lutions  on  the  table.  The  nominations  of  directors  of  the  bank  had  been 
renewed  March  1 1 ;  May  I  a  report  submitted  by  Tyler,  from  the  Committee 
on  Finance,  recommending  their  rejection,  was  accepted  by  the  Senate,  the 
vote  being  1 1  to  30.  June  24  the  nomination  of  Taney  to  be  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  was  also  rejected,  1 8  to  28. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Niles's  Register,  XLVI.,  138-144.  The  proceed 
ings  of  the  Senate  are  in  the  Journal,  23d  Cong.,  1st  Sess.;  for  the  discus 
sions,  see  the  Cong.  Debates,  or  Cong.  Globe,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XII. 
Calhoun's  speech  of  May  6  is  in  his  Works  (ed.  1853),  II.,  405-425;  Web 
ster's  speech  of  May  7  is  in  his  Works,  IV.,  103-151.  The  state  of  public 
feeling  may  be  gathered  from  Niles's  Register.  See  also  Benton's  Thirty 
Years'  Vieiv,  I.,  chap.  103.  Webster's  report,  Feb.  5,  on  the  removal  of  the 
deposits,  is  in  his  Works  (ed.  1857),  IV.,  50-81;  remarks  on  various  occa 
sions  on  the  same  subject,  ib.,  III.,  506-551;  IV.,  3-49;  speech  of  March  18, 
on  extension  of  the  bank  charter,  ib.,  IV.,  82-102.  Calhoun's  speech  of  Jan. 
13,  on  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  is  in  his  Works  (ed.  1853),  II.,  309-343; 
speech  on  Webster's  proposition  to  recharter,  ib.,  II.,  344—376.  For  Clay's 
speeches  on  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  see  his  Life  and  Speeches  (ed.  1844), 
II.,  145-207- 

To  the  senate  of  the  United  States : 

IT  appears  by  the  published  journal  of  the  senate,  that  on  the 
26th  of  December  last,  a  resolution  was  offered  by  a  member  of 
the  senate,  which,  after  a  protracted  debate,  was,  on  the  28th  day 
of  March  last,  modified  by  the  mover,  and  passed  by  the  votes  of 
twenty-six  senators  out  of  forty-six,  who  were  present  and  voted 
in  the  following  words,  viz.  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  president,  in  the  late  executive  proceed 
ings  in  relation  to  the  public  revenue,  has  assumed  upon  himself 
authority  and  power  not  conferred  by  the  constitution  and  laws, 
but  in  derogation  of  both." 

Having  had  the  honor,  through  the  voluntary  suffrages  of  the 
American  people,  to  fill  the  office  of  president  of  the  United 
States  during  the  period  which  may  be  presumed  to  have  been 
referred  to  in  this  resolution,  it  is  sufficiently  evident  that  the 
censure  it  inflicts  was  intended  for  myself.  Without  notice,  un 
heard  and  untried,  I  thus  find  myself  charged  on  the  records  of 
the  senate,  and  in  a  form  hitherto  unknown  in  our  history,  with 
the  high  crime  of  violating  the  laws  and  constitution  of  my  country. 

It  can  seldom  be  necessary  for  any  department  of  the  govern- 


308  JACKSON'S   PROTEST  [April  15 

ment,  when  assailed  in  conversation,  or  debate,  or  by  the  strictures 
of  the  press  or  of  popular  assemblies,  to  step  out  of  its  ordinary 
path  for  the  purpose  of  vindicating  its  conduct,  or  of  pointing  out 
any  irregularity  or  injustice  in  the  manner  of  the  attack.  But 
when  the  chief  executive  magistrate  is,  by  one  of  the  most  im 
portant  branches  of  the  government,  in  its  official  capacity,  in  a 
public  manner,  and  by  its  recorded  sentence,  but  without  prece 
dent,  competent  authority,  or  just  cause,  declared  guilty  of  a 
breach  of  the  laws  and  constitution,  it  is  due  to  his  station,  to 
public  opinion,  and  to  a  proper  self  respect,  that  the  officer  thus 
denounced  should  promptly  expose  the  wrong  which  has  been 
done. 

In  the  present  case,  moreover,  there  is  even  a  stronger  necessity 
for  such  a  vindication.  By  an  express  provision  of  the  constitu 
tion,  before  the  president  of  the  United  States  can  enter  on  the 
execution  of  his  office,  he  is  required  to  take  an  oath  or  affirma 
tion  in  the  following  words  : 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear,  (or  affirm),  that  I  will  faithfully  execute 
the  office  of  president  of  the  United  States ;  and  will,  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect  and  defend,  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States." 

The  duty  of  defending,  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  the  integrity  of  the 
constitution,  would  indeed  have  resulted  from  the  very  nature  of 
his  office  :  but  by  thus  expressing  it  in  the  official  oath  or  affirma 
tion,  which,  in  this  respect,  differs  from  that  of  every  other  func 
tionary,  the  founders  of  our  republic  have  attested  their  sense  of 
its  importance,  and  have  given  to  it  a  peculiar  solemnity  and 
force.  Bound  to  the  performance  of  this  duty  by  the  oath  I  have 
taken,  by  the  strongest  obligations  of  gratitude  to  the  American 
people,  and  by  the  ties  which  unite  my  every  earthly  interest  with 
the  welfare  and  glory  of  my  country;  and  perfectly  convinced 
that  the  discussion  and  passage  of  the  above  mentioned  resolution 
were  not  only  unauthorised  by  the  constitution,  but  in  many 
respects  repugnant  to  its  provisions  and  subversive  of  the  rights 
secured  by  it  to  other  co-ordinate  departments,  I  deem  it  an 
imperative  duty  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  that  sacred  instru 
ment,  and  the  immunities  of  the  department  intrusted  to  my  care, 
by  all  means  consistent  with  my  own  lawful  powers,  with  the 
rights  of  others,  and  with  the  genius  of  our  civil  institutions.  To 
this  end,  I  have  caused  this,  my  solemn  protest  against  the  afore- 


1834]  JACKSON'S   PROTEST  309 

said  proceedings,  to  be  placed  on  the  files  of  the  executive 
department,  and  to  be  transmitted  to  the  senate. 

It  is  alike  due  to  the  subject,  the  senate  and  the  people,  that 
the  views  which  I  have  taken  of  the  proceedings  referred  to,  and 
which  compel  me  to  regard  them  in  the  light  that  has  been  men 
tioned,  should  be  exhibited  at  length,  and  with  the  freedom  and 
firmness  which  are  required  by  an  occasion  so  unprecedented  and 
peculiar. 

Under  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  powers  and 
functions  of  the  various  departments  of  the  federal  government, 
and  their  responsibilities  for  violation  or  neglect  of  duty,  are  clearly 
defined  or  result  by  necessary  inference.  The  legislative  power 
subject  to  the  qualified  negative  of  the  president,  is  vested  in  the 
congress  of  the  United  States,  composed  of  the  senate  and  house 
of  representatives.  The  executive  power  is  vested  exclusively  in 
the  president,  except  that  in  the  conclusion  of  treaties  and  in 
certain  appointments  to  office,  he  is  to  act  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  senate.  The  judicial  power  is  vested  exclusively 
in  the  supreme  and  other  courts  of  the  U.  States,  except  in  cases 
of  impeachment,  for  which  purpose  the  accusatory  power  is  vested 
in  the  house  of  representatives,  and  that  of  hearing  and  determin 
ing  in  the  senate.  But  although  for  the  special  purposes  which 
have  been  mentioned,  there  is  an  occasional  intermixture  of  the 
powers  of  the  different  departments,  yet  with  these  exceptions, 
each  of  the  three  great  departments  is  independent  of  the  others 
in  its  sphere  of  action ;  and  when  it  deviates  from  that  sphere  is 
not  responsible  to  the  others,  further  than  it  is  expressly  made 
so  in  the  constitution.  In  every  other  respect,  each  of  them 
is  the  coequal  of  the  other  two,  and  all  are  the  servants  of  the 
American  people,  without  power  or  right  to  control  or  censure 
each  other  in  the  service  of  their  common  superior,  save  only 
in  the  manner  and  to  the  degree  which  that  superior  has  pre 
scribed.  ...  , 

Tested  by  these  principles,  the  resolution  of  the  senate  is 
wholly  unauthorised  by  the  constitution,  and  in  derogation  of  its 
entire  spirit.  It  assumes  that  a  single  branch  of  the  legislative 
department  may  for  the  purposes  of  a  public  censure,  and  without 
any  view  to  legislation  or  impeachment,  take  up,  consider,  and 
decide  upon,  the  official  acts  of  the  executive.  But  in  no  part  of 
the  constitution  is  the  president  subjected  to  any  such  responsi- 


3IO  JACKSON'S   PROTEST  [April  15 

bility ;  and  in  no  part  of  that  instrument  is  any  such  power  con 
ferred  on  either  branch  of  the  legislature. 

The  justice  of  these  conclusions  will  be  illustrated  and  confirmed 
by  a  brief  analysis  of  the  powers  of  the  senate,  and  a  comparison 
of  their  recent  proceedings  with  those  powers. 

The  high  functions  assigned  by  the  constitution  to  the  senate, 
are  in  their  nature  either  legislative,  executive  or  judicial.  It  is 
only  in  the  exercise  of  its  judicial  powers,  when  sitting  as  a  court 
for  the  trial  of  impeachments,  that  the  senate  is  expressly  author 
ised  and  necessarily  required  to  consider  and  decide  upon  the 
conduct  of  the  president,  or  any  other  public  officer.  Indirectly 
however,  as  has  already  been  suggested,  it  may  frequently  be 
called  on  to  perform  that  office.  Cases  may  occur  in  the  course 
of  its  legislative  or  executive  proceedings,  in  which  it  may  be 
indispensible  to  the  proper  exercise  of  its  powers,  that  it  should 
inquire  into,  and  decide  upon,  the  conduct  of  the  president  or 
other  public  officers ;  and  in  every  such  case  its  constitutional 
right  to  do  so  is  cheerfully  conceded.  But  to  authorise  the  senate 
to  enter  on  such  a  task  in  its  legislative  or  executive  capacity,  the 
inquiry  must  actually  grow  out  of  and  tend  to  some  legislative  or 
executive  action,  and  the  decision  when  expressed  must  take  the 
form  of  some  appropriate  legislative  or  executive  act. 

The  resolution  in  question  was  introduced,  discussed  and  passed, 
not  as  a  joint,  but  as  a  separate  resolution.  It  asserts  no  legis 
lative  power,  proposes  no  legislative  action  ;  and  neither  possesses 
the  form  nor  any  of  the  attributes  of  a  legislative  measure.  It 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  entertained  or  passed,  with  any 
view  or  expectation  of  its  issuing  in  a  law  or  joint  resolution,  or 
in  the  repeal  of  any  law  or  joint  resolution,  or  in  any  other  legis 
lative  action. 

Whilst  wanting  both  the  form  and  substance  of  a  legislative 
measure,  it  is  equally  manifest,  that  the  resolution  was  not  justified 
by  ar>y  of  the  executive  powers  conferred  on  the  senate.  These 
powers  relate  exclusively  to  the  consideration  of  treaties  and 
nominations  to  office ;  and  they  are  exercised  in  secret  session, 
and  with  closed  doors.  This  resolution  does  not  apply  to  any 
treaty  or  nomination,  and  was  passed  in  a  public  session. 

Nor  does  this  proceeding  in  any  way  belong  to  that  class  of 
incidental  resolutions  which  relate  to  the  officers  of  the  senate,  to 
their  chamber,  and  other  appurtenances,  or  to  subjects  of  order, 


JACKSON'S  PROTEST  311 

and  other  matters  of  the  like  nature  —  in  all  which  either  house 
may  lawfully  proceed  without  any  co-operation  with  the  other,  or 
with  the  president. 

On  the  contrary  the  whole  phraseology  and  sense  of  the  resolu 
tion  seem  to  be  judicial.  Its  essence,  true  character,  and  only 
practical  effect,  are  to  be  found  in  the  conduct  which  it  charges 
upon  the  president,  and  in  the  judgment  which  it  pronounces  on 
that  conduct.  The  resolution  therefore,  though  discussed  and 
adopted  by  the  senate  in  its  legislative  capacity,  is,  in  its  office, 
and  in  all  its  characteristics,  essentially  judicial.  .  .  . 

The  resolution  above  quoted,  charges  in  substance  that  in  cer 
tain  proceedings  relating  to  the  public  revenue,  the  president  has 
usurped  authority  and  power  not  conferred  upon  him  by  the  con 
stitution  and  laws,  and  that  in  doing  so  he  violated  both.  Any 
such  act  constitutes  a  high  crime  —  one  of  the  highest,  indeed, 
which  the  president  can  commit  —  a  crime  which  justly  exposes 
him  to  impeachment  by  the  house  of  representatives,  and  upon 
due  conviction,  to  removal  from  office,  and  to  the  complete  and 
immutable  disfranchisement  prescribed  by  the  constitution. 

The  resolution,  then,  was  in  substance  an  impeachment  of  the 
president ;  and  in  its  passage  amounts  to  a  declaration  by  a  major 
ity  of  the  senate,  that  he  is  guilty  of  an  impeachable  offence.  As 
such  it  is  spread  upon  the  journals  of  the  senate  —  published  to 
the  nation  and  to  the  world  —  made  part  of  our  enduring  archives 
—  and  incorporated  in  the  history  of  the  age.  The  punishment 
of  removal  from  office  and  future  disqualification,  does  not,  it  is 
true,  follow  this  decision ;  nor  would  it  have  followed  the  like 
decision,  if  the  regular  forms  of  proceeding  had  been  pursued, 
because  the  requisite  number  did  not  concur  in  the  result.  But 
the  moral  influence  of  a  solemn  declaration,  by  a  majority  of  the 
senate,  that  the  accused  is  guilty  of  the  offence  charged  upon  him, 
has  been  as  effectually  secured,  as  if  the  like  declaration  had  been 
made  upon  an  impeachment  expressed  in  the  same  terms.  Indeed, 
a  greater  practical  effect  has  been  gained,  because  the  votes  given 
for  the  resolution,  though  not  sufficient  to  authorise  a  judgment 
of  guilty  on  an  impeachment,  were  numerous  enough  to  carry 
that  resolution. 

That  the  resolution  does  not  expressly  alledge  that  the  assump 
tion  of  power  and  authority,  which  it  condemns,  was  intentional 
and  corrupt,  is  no  answer  to  the  preceding  view  of  its  character  and 


312  JACKSON'S  PROTEST  [April  15 

effect.  The  act  thus  condemned,  necessarily  implies  volition  and 
design  in  the  individual  to  whom  it  is  imputed,  and  being  unlawful 
in  its  character,  the  legal  conclusion  is,  that  it  was  prompted  by 
improper  motives,  and  committed  with  an  unlawful  intent.  The 
charge  is  not  of  a  mistake  in  the  exercise  of  supposed  powers,  but 
of  the  assumption  of  powers  not  conferred  by  the  constitution  and 
laws,  but  in  derogation  of  both,  and  nothing  is  suggested  to  excuse 
or  palliate  the  terpitude  of  the  act.  In  the  absence  of  any  such 
excuse,  or  palliation,  there  is  room  only  for  one  inference ;  and 
that  is,  that  the  intent  was  unlawful  and  corrupt.  Besides,  the 
resolution  not  only  contains  no  mitigating  suggestion,  but  on  the 
contrary,  it  holds  up  the  act  complained  of  as  justly  obnoxious 
to  censure  and  reprobation  :  and  thus  as  distinctly  stamps  it  with 
impurity  of  motive,  as  if  the  strongest  epithets  had  been  used. 

The  president  of  the  United  States,  therefore,  has  been  by  a 
majority  of  his  constitutional  triers,  accused  and  found  guilty  of  an 
impeachable  offence  :  but  in  no  part  of  this  proceeding  have  the 
directions  of  the  constitution  been  observed. 

[The  provisions  of  the  Constitution  regarding  impeachment  are 
then  considered  at  length.] 

The  constitutional  mode  of  procedure  on  an  impeachment  has 
not  only  been  wholly  disregarded,  but  some  of  the  first  principles 
of  natural  right  and  enlightened  jurisprudence,  have  been  violated 
in  the  very  form  of  the  resolution.  It  carefully  abstains  from  aver 
ring  in  which  of  "  the  late  proceedings  in  relation  to  the  public 
revenue,  the  president  has  assumed  upon  himself  authority  and 
power  not  conferred  by  the  constitution  and  laws."  It  carefully 
abstains  from  specifying  what  laws  or  what  parts  of  the  constitu 
tion  have  been  violated.  Why  was  not  the  certainty  of  the  offence 
—  "  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation  "  —  set  out  in  the  man 
ner  required  in  the  constitution,  before  even  the  humblest  indi 
vidual,  for  the  smallest  crime,  can  be  exposed  to  condemnation? 
Such  a  specification  was  due  to  the  accused,  that  he  might  direct 
his  defence  to  the  real  points  of  attack ;  to  the  people,  that  they 
might  clearly  understand  in  what  particulars  their  institutions  had 
been  violated  ;  and  to  the  truth  and  certainty  of  our  public  annals. 
As  the  record  now  stands,  whilst  the  resolution  plainly  charges  upon 
the  president  at  least  one  act  of  usurpation  in  "  the  late  executive 
proceedings  in  relation  to  the  public  revenue,"  and  is  so  framed 
that  those  senators  who  believe  that  one  such  act,  and  only  one, 


1834]  JACKSON'S   PROTEST  313 

had  been  committed,  could  assent  to  it,  its  language  is  yet  broad 
enough  to  include  several  such  acts ;  and  so  it  may  have  been 
regarded  by  some  of  those  who  voted  for  it.  But  though  the  ac 
cusation  is  thus  comprehensive  in  the  censures  it  implies,  there 
is  no  such  certainty  of  time,  place,  or  circumstance,  as  to  exhibit 
the  particular  conclusion  of  fact  or  law  which  induced  any  one 
senator  to  vote  for  it.  And  it  may  well  have  happened,  that  whilst 
one  senator  believed  that  some  particular  act  embraced  in  the  reso 
lution,  was  an  arbitrary  and  unconstitutional  assumption  of  power, 
others  of  the  majority  may  have  deemed  that  very  act  both  con 
stitutional  and  expedient,  or  if  not  expedient,  yet  still  within  the 
pale  of  the  constitution.  And  thus  a  majority  of  the  senators  may 
have  been  enabled  to  concur,  in  a  vague  and  undefined  accusation, 
that  the  president,  in  the  course  of  "  the  late  executive  proceedings 
in  relation  to  the  public  revenue,"  had  violated  the  constitution 
and  laws ;  whilst,  if  a  separate  vote  had  been  taken  in  respect  to 
each  particular  act,  included  within  the  general  terms,  the  accusers 
of  the  president  might,  on  any  such  vote,  have  been  found  in  the 
minority. 

Still  further  to  exemplify  this  feature  of  the  proceeding,  it  is 
important  to  be  remarked,  that  the  resolution,  as  originally  offered 
to  the  senate,  specified,  with  adequate  precision  certain  acts  of 
the  president,  which  it  denounced  as  a  violation  of  the  constitu 
tion  and  laws ;  and  that  it  was  not  until  the  very  close  of  the 
debate,  and  when,  perhaps,  it  was  apprehended  that  a  majority 
might  not  sustain  the  specific  accusation  contained  in  it,  that  the 
resolution  was  so  modified  as  to  assume  its  present  form.  .  .  . 

In  this  view  of  the  resolution  it  must  certainly  be  regarded,  not 
as  a  vindication  of  any  particular  provision  of  the  law  or  the  con 
stitution,  but  simply  as  an  official  rebuke  or  condemnatory  sen 
tence,  too  general  and  indefinite  to  be  easily  repelled,  but  yet 
sufficiently  precise  to  bring  into  discredit  the  conduct  and  motives 
of  the  executive.  .  .  . 

If  the  resolution  had  been  left  in  its  original  form,  it  is  not  to 
be  presumed  that  it  could  ever  have  received  the  assent  of  a 
majority  of  the  senate,  for  the  acts  therein  specified  as  violations 
of  the  constitution  and  laws  were  clearly  within  the  limits  of  the 
executive  authority. 

[An  elaborate  survey  and  defence  of  the  conduct  of  the  Presi 
dent  in  the  matter  of  the  removal  of  the  deposits  here  follows.] 


314  JACKSON'S   PROTEST  [April  15 

The  honest  differences  of  opinion  which  occasionally  exist 
between  the  senate  and  the  president,  in  regard  to  matters  in 
which  both  are  obliged  to  participate,  are  sufficiently  embarrass 
ing.  But  if  the  course  recently  adopted  by  the  senate  shall 
hereafter  be  frequently  pursued,  it  is  not  only  obvious  that  the 
harmony  of  the  relations  between  the  president  and  the  senate 
will  be  destroyed,  but  that  other  and  graver  effects  will  ultimately 
ensue.  If  the  censures  of  the  senate  be  submitted  to  by  the  presi 
dent,  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  his  ability  and  virtue,  and 
the  character  and  usefulness  of  his  administration,  will  soon  be  at 
an  end,  and  the  real  power  of  the  government  will  fall  into  the 
hands  of  a  body,  holding  their  offices  for  long  terms,  not  elected 
by  the  people,  and  not  to  them  directly  responsible.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  illegal  censures  of  the  senate  should  be  resisted 
by  the  president,  collisions  and  angry  controversies  might  ensue, 
discreditable  in  their  progress,  and  in  the  end  compelling  the 
people  to  adopt  the  conclusion,  either  that  their  chief  magistrate 
was  unworthy  of  their  respect,  or  that  the  senate  was  chargeable 
with  calumny  and  injustice.  Either  of  these  results  would  impair 
public  confidence  in  the  perfection  of  the  system,  and  lead  to 
serious  alterations  of  its  frame  work,  or  to  the  practical  abandon 
ment  of  some  of  its  provisions. 

The  influence  of  such  proceedings  on  the  other  departments 
of  the  government,  and  more  especially  on  the  states,  could  not 
fail  to  be  extensively  pernicious.  When  the  judges  in  the  last 
resort  of  official  misconduct  themselves  overleap  the  bounds  of 
their  authority,  as  prescribed  by  the  constitution,  what  general 
disregard  of  its  provisions  might  not  their  example  be  expected 
to  produce?  And  who  does  not  perceive  that  such  contempt  of 
the  federal  constitution,  by  one  of  its  most  important  departments, 
would  hold  out  the  strongest  temptation  to  resistance  on  the  part 
of  the  state  sovereignties,  whenever  they  shall  suppose  their  just 
rights  to  have  been  invaded?  Thus  all  the  independent  depart 
ments  of  the  government,  and  the  states  which  compose  our 
confederated  union,  instead  of  attending  to  their  appropriate 
duties,  and  leaving  those  who  may  offend,  to  be  reclaimed  or 
punished  in  the  manner  pointed  out  in  the  constitution,  would 
fall  to  mutual  crimination  and  recrimination,  and  give  to  the 
people  confusion  and  anarchy,  instead  of  order  and  law ;  until 
at  length  some  form  of  aristocratic  power  would  be  established 


1834]  JACKSON'S   PROTEST  315 

on  the  ruins  of  the  constitution,  or  the  states  be  broken  into 
separate  communities. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  charge,  or  to  insinuate,  that  the  present 
senate  of  the  United  States  intend,  in  the  most  distant  way,  to 
encourage  such  a  result.  It  is  not  of  their  motives  or  designs, 
but  only  of  the  tendency  of  their  acts,  that  it  is  my  duty  to  speak. 
It  is,  if  possible,  to  make  senators  themselves  sensible  of  the  danger 
which  lurks  under  the  precedent  set  in  their  resolution,  and  at 
any  rate  to  perform  my  duty,  as  the  responsible  head  of  one  of  the 
coequal  departments  of  the  government,  that  I  have  been  com 
pelled  to  point  out  the  consequences  to  which  the  discussion  and 
passage  of  the  resolution  may  lead,  if  the  tendency  of  the  measure 
be  not  checked  in  its  inception. 

It  is  due  to  the  high  trust  with  which  I  have  been  charged ;  to 
those  who  may  be  called  to  succeed  me  in  it ;  to  the  representa 
tives  of  the  people,  whose  constitutional  prerogative  has  been 
unlawfully  assumed ;  to  the  people  of  the  states ;  and  to  the 
constitution  they  have  established ;  that  I  should  not  permit  its 
provisions  to  be  broken  down  by  such  an  attack  on  the  executive 
department,  without  at  least  some  effort  "to  preserve,  protect, 
and  defend  them."  With  this  view,  and  for  the  reasons  which 
have  been  stated,  I  do  hereby  SOLEMNLY  PROTEST  against  the 
aforementioned  proceedings  of  the  senate,  as  unauthorized  by 
the  constitution ;  contrary  to  its  spirit  and  to  several  of  its 
express  provisions ;  subversive  of  that  distribution  of  the  powers 
of  government  which  it  has  ordained  and  established ;  destruc 
tive  of  the  checks  and  safeguards  by  which  those  powers  were 
intended,  on  the  one  hand,  to  be  controlled,  and  on  the  other  to 
be  protected;  and  calculated  by  their  immediate  and  collateral 
effects,  by  their  character  and  tendency,  to  concentrate  in  the 
hands  of  a  body  not  directly  amenable  to  the  people,  a  degree  of 
influence  and  power  dangerous  to  their  liberties,  and  fatal  to  the 
constitution  of  their  choice. 

The  resolution  of  the  senate  contains  an  imputation  upon  my 
private  as  well  as  upon  my  public  character ;  and  as  it  must  stand 
forever  on  their  journals,  I  can  not  close  this  substitute  for  that 
defence  which  I  have  not  been  allowed  to  present  in  the  ordinary 
form,  without  remarking,  that  I  have  lived  in  vain,  if  it  be  neces 
sary  to  enter  into  a  formal  vindication  of  my  character  and  pur 
poses  from  such  an  imputation.  In  vain  do  I  bear  upon  my  person, 


3l6  JACKSON'S   PROTEST  [April  15 

enduring  memorials  of  that  contest  in  which  American  liberty  was 
purchased  —  in  vain  have  I  since  periled  property,  fame,  and  life, 
in  defence  of  the  rights  and  privileges  so  dearly  bought  —  in  vain 
am  I  now,  without  a  personal  aspiration,  or  the  hope  of  individual 
advantage,  encountering  responsibilities  and  dangers,  from  which, 
by  mere  inactivity  in  relation  to  a  single  point,  I  might  have  been 
exempt — if  any  serious  doubts  can  be  entertained  as  to  the  purity 
of  my  purposes  and  motives.  If  I  had  been  ambitious,  I  should 
have  sought  an  alliance  with  that  powerful  institution  which  even 
now  aspires  to  no  divided  empire.  If  I  had  been  venal,  I  should 
have  sold  myself  to  its  designs  —  had  I  preferred  personal  com 
fort  and  official  ease  to  the  performance  of  my  arduous  duty,  I 
should  have  ceased  to  molest  it.  In  the  history  of  conquerors 
and  usurpers,  never,  in  the  fire  of  youth,  nor  in  the  vigor  of  man 
hood,  could  I  find  an  attraction  to  lure  me  from  the  path  of 
duty ;  and  now,  I  shall  scarcely  find  an  inducement  to  commence 
their  career  of  ambition,  when  gray  hairs  and  a  decaying  frame, 
instead  of  inviting  to  toil  and  battle,  call  me  to  the  contemplation 
of  other  worlds,  where  conquerors  cease  to  be  honored,  and  usurp 
ers  expiate  their  crimes. 

The  only  ambition  I  can  feel,  is  to  acquit  myself  to  Him  to 
whom  I  must  soon  render  an  account  of  my  stewardship  ;  to  serve 
my  fellow  men,  and  live  respected  and  honored  in  the  history  of 
my  country.  No ;  the  ambition  which  leads  me  on,  is  an  anxious 
desire,  and  a  fixed  determination,  to  return  to  the  people,  unim 
paired,  the  sacred  trust  they  have  confided  to  my  charge  ;  to  heal 
the  wounds  of  the  constitution  and  preserve  it  from  further  viola 
tion  ;  to  persuade  my  countrymen,  so  far  as  I  may,  that  it  is  not 
in  a  splendid  government,  supported  by  powerful  monopolies  and 
aristocratical  establishments,  that  they  will  find  happiness,  or  their 
liberties  protection  ;  but  in  a  plain  system,  void  of  pomp,  protect 
ing  all,  and  granting  favors  to  none  —  dispensing  its  blessings  like 
the  dews  of  heaven,  unseen  and  unfelt,  save  in  the  freshness  and 
beauty  they  contribute  to  produce.  It  is  such  a  government  that 
the  genius  of  our  people  requires  —  such  an  one  only  under  which 
our  states  may  remain  for  ages  to  come,  united,  prosperous,  and 
free.  If  the  Almighty  Being  who  has  hitherto  sustained  and  pro 
tected  me,  will  but  vouchsafe  to  make  my  feeble  powers  instru 
mental  to  such  a  result,  I  shall  anticipate  with  pleasure  the  place 
to  be  assigned  me  in  the  history  of  my  country,  and  die  contented 


1 834]  JACKSON'S   SIXTH   MESSAGE  317 

with  the  belief,  that  I  have  contributed,  in  some  small  degree, 
to  increase  the  value  and  prolong  the  duration,  of  American 
liberty. 

To  the  end  that  the  resolution  of  the  senate  may  not  be  here 
after  drawn  into  precedent,  with  the  authority  of  silent  acquies 
cence  on  the  part  of  the  executive  department ;  and  to  the  end, 
also,  that  my  motives  and  views  in  the  executive  proceedings  de 
nounced  in  that  resolution,  may  be  known  to  my  fellow  citizens, 
to  the  world,  and  to  all  posterity,  I  respectfully  request  that  this 
message  and  protest  may  be  entered  at  length  on  the  journals  of 
the  senate. 

ANDREW  JACKSON. 


No.   65.     The  Bank  Controversy :     Jackson's 
Sixth  Annual  Message 

December  2,  1834 

THE  second  session  of  the  twenty-third  Congress  was  not  fruitful  in  legisla 
tion  of  any  sort.  December  18  Tyler,  from  the  Senate  Committee  on  Finance, 
made  a  report  on  the  affairs  and  conduct  of  the  bank,  as  provided  for  at  the 
previous  session.  A  motion  by  Benton,  Jan.  19,  1835,  to  recommit  the  report, 
with  instructions  "  to  renew  and  complete  the  inquiries,"  was  laid  on  the  table; 
on  March  3  the  committee  was  discharged  from  further  consideration  of  the 
subject.  A  bill  to  regulate  the  deposits  was  reported  by  Calhoun  Feb.  9,  and 
passed  the  Senate  Feb.  27,  by  a  vote  of  28  to  12 ;  a  report  was  made  on  it  in 
the  House  March  2,  but  no  further  action  was  taken.  A  bill  for  the  same 
purpose  was  reported  in  the  House  Dec.  16,  and  discussed  at  length  from 
Feb.  10  to  19,  but  failed  to  pass.  A  bill  authorizing  the  sale  of  the  United 
States  bank  stock  was  also  introduced. 

REFERENCES.  —  7"ext  of  the  message  in  House  and  Senate  Journals,  23d 
Cong.,  2d  Sess.;  the  extract  here  given  is  from  the  Senate  Journal,  15-18. 
The  discussions  may  be  followed  in  the  Cong.  Debates,  or  Cong.  Globe,  or  Ben- 
ton's  Abridgment,  XII.  For  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
Dec.  12,  on  the  system  of  keeping  and  disbursing  the  public  money,  see 
Senate  Doc.  13.  Tyler's  report,  Dec.  18,  is  Senate  Doc.  17.  Webster's  speech 
of  Feb.  26,  on  the  regulation  of  the  deposits,  is  in  his  Works  (ed.  1857),  IV., 
200-204.  Calhoun's  report  on  executive  patronage,  Feb.  9,  is  Senate  Doc. 
108 ;  it  is  also  in  his  Works  (ed.  1857),  V,,  148-190. 

Circumstances  make  it  my  duty  to  call  the  attention  of  Con 
gress  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Created  for  the  conven- 


318  JACKSON'S   SIXTH   MESSAGE  [Dec.  2 

ience  of  the  Government,  that  institution  has  become  the  scourge 
of  the  people.  Its  interference  to  postpone  the  payment  of  a 
portion  of  the  national  debt,  that  it  might  retain  the  public  money 
appropriated  for  that  purpose,  to  strengthen  it  in  a  political  con 
test  —  the  extraordinary  extension  and  contraction  of  its  accom 
modations  to  the  community  —  its  corrupt  and  partisan  loans  — 
its  exclusion  of  the  public  directors  from  a  knowledge  of  its  most 
important  proceedings  —  the  unlimited  authority  conferred  on  the 
president  to  expend  its  funds  in  hiring  writers,  and  procuring  the 
execution  of  printing,  and  the  use  made  of  that  authority  — 
the  retention  of  the  pension  money  and  books  after  the  selection 
of  new  agents  —  the  groundless  claim  to  heavy  damages  in  conse 
quence  of  the  protest  of  the  bill  drawn  on  the  French  Government 
—  have,  through  various  channels,  been  laid  before  Congress. 
Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  last  session,  the  bank,  through 
its  president,  announced  its  ability  and  readiness  to  abandon  the 
system  of  unparalleled  curtailment,  and  the  interruption  of  do 
mestic  exchanges,  which  it  had  practised  upon  from  the  ist  of 
August,  1833,  to  the  30th  of  June,  1834,  and  to  extend  its  accom 
modations  to  the  community.  The  grounds  assumed  in  this 
annunciation  amounted  to  an  acknowledgment  that  the  curtail 
ment,  in  the  extent  to  which  it  had  been  carried,  was  not  neces 
sary  to  the  safety  of  the  bank,  and  had  been  persisted  in  merely 
to  induce  Congress  to  grant  the  prayer  of  the  bank  in  its  memorial 
relative  to  the  removal  of  the  deposites,  and  to  give  it  a  new 
charter.  They  were  substantially  a  confession  that  all  the  real 
distresses  which  individuals  and  the  country  had  endured  for  the 
preceding  six  or  eight  months,  had  been  needlessly  produced  by 
it,  with  the  view  of  affecting,  through  the  sufferings  of  the  people, 
the  legislative  action  of  Congress.  It  is  a  subject  of  congratula 
tion  that  Congress  and  the  country  had  the  virtue  and  firmness  to 
bear  the  infliction ;  that  the  energies  of  our  people  soon  found 
relief  from  this  wanton  tyranny,  in  vast  importations  of  the  pre 
cious  metals  from  almost  every  part  of  the  world ;  and  that,  at 
the  close  of  this  tremendous  effort  to  control  our  Government,  the 
bank  found  itself  powerless,  and  no  longer  able  to  loan  out  its 
surplus  means.  The  community  had  learned  to  manage  its  affairs 
without  its  assistance,  and  trade  had  already  found  new  auxiliaries  ; 
so  that,  on  the  first  of  October  last,  the  extraordinary  spectacle 
was  presented  of  a  national  bank,  more  than  one  half  of  whose 


1834]  JACKSON'S   SIXTH   MESSAGE  319 

capital  was  either  lying  unproductive  in  its  vaults,  or  in  the  hands 
of  foreign  bankers. 

To  the  needless  distresses  brought  on  the  country  during  the 
last  session  of  Congress,  has  since  been  added  the  open  seizure  of 
the  dividends  on  the  public  stock,  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand  and  forty-one  dollars,  under  pretence  of 
paying  damages,  cost,  and  interest,  upon  the  protested  French 
bill.*  This  sum  constituted  a  portion  of  the  estimated  revenues 
for  the  year  1834,  upon  which  the  appropriations  made  by  Con 
gress  were  based.  It  would  as  soon  have  been  expected  that  our 
collectors  would  seize  on  the  customs,  or  the  receivers  of  our  land 
offices  on  the  moneys  arising  from  the  sale  of  public  lands,  under 
pretences  of  claims  against  the  United  States,  as  that  the  bank 
would  have  retained  the  dividends.  Indeed,  if  the  principle  be 
established  that  any  one  who  chooses  to  set  up  a  claim  against 
the  United  States,  may,  without  authority  of  law,  seize  on  the 
public  property  or  money  wherever  he  can  find  it,  to  pay  such 
claim,  there  will  remain  no  assurance  that  our  revenue  will  reach 
the  Treasury,  or  that  it  will  be  applied  after  the  appropriation  to 
the  purposes  designated  in  the  law.  The  paymasters  of  our  army, 
and  the  pursers  of  our  navy,  may,  under  like  pretences,  apply  to 
their  own  use  moneys  appropriated  to  set  in  motion  the  public 
force,  and  in  time  of  war  leave  the  country  without  defence. 
This  measure  resorted  to  by  the  bank  is  disorganizing  and  revolu 
tionary,  and,  if  generally  resorted  to  by  private  citizens  in  like 
cases,  would  fill  the  land  with  anarchy  and  violence. 

It  is  a  constitutional  provision,  "  that  no  money  shall  be  drawn 
from  the  Treasury  but  in  consequence  of  appropriations  made  by 
law."  The  palpable  object  of  this  provision  is,  to  prevent  the 
expenditure  of  the  public  money  for  any  purpose  whatsoever 
which  shall  not  have  been  first  approved  by  the  Representatives 
of  the  people  and  the  States  in  Congress  assembled.  It  vests  the 
power  of  declaring  for  what  purposes  the  public  money  shall  be 
expended  in  the  Legislative  Department  of  the  Government,  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  Executive  and  Judicial ;  and  it  is  not  within 
the  constitutional  authority  of  either  of  those  departments  to  pay 
it  away  without  law,  or  to  sanction  its  payment.  According  to 
this  plain  constitutional  provision,  the  claim  of  the  bank  can  never 
be  paid  without  an  appropriation  by  act  of  Congress.  But  the 

*  For  a  concise  account  of  this  transaction,  see  Sumner's  Jackson,  295, 296.  — ED. 


320  JACKSON'S   SIXTH   MESSAGE  [Dec.  2 

bank  has  never  asked  for  an  appropriation.  It  attempts  to  defeat 
the  provision  of  the  constitution,  and  obtain  payment  without  an 
act  of  Congress.  Instead  of  awaiting  an  appropriation  passed  by 
both  Houses,  and  approved  by  the  President,  it  makes  an  appro 
priation  for  itself,  and  invites  an  appeal  to  the  judiciary  to  sanc 
tion  it.  That  the  money  had  not  technically  been  paid  into  the 
Treasury,  does  not  affect  the  principle  intended  to  be  established 
by  the  Constitution.  The  Executive  and  the  Judiciary  have  as 
little  right  to  appropriate  and  expend  the  public  money  without 
authority  of  law,  before  it  is  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  Treasury, 
as  to  take  it  from  the  Treasury.  In  the  annual  report  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  in  his  correspondence  with  the 
President  of  the  bank,  and  the  opinions  of  the  Attorney  General 
accompanying  it,  you  will  find  a  further  examination  of  the  claims 
of  the  bank,  and  the  course  it  has  pursued. 

It  seems  due  to  the  safety  of  the  public  funds  remaining  in  that 
bank,  and  to  the  honor  of  the  American  people,  that  measures  be 
taken  to  separate  the  Government  entirely  from  an  institution  so 
mischievous  to  the  public  prosperity,  and  so  regardless  of  the 
Constitution  and  laws.  By  transferring  the  public  deposites,  by 
appointing  other  pension  agents,  as  far  as  it  had  the  power, 
by  ordering  the  discontinuance  of  the  receipt  of  bank  checks 
in  the  payment  of  the  public  dues,  after  the  first  day  of  Janu 
ary,  the  Executive  has  exerted  all  its  lawful  authority  to  sever 
the  connexion  between  the  Government  and  this  faithless  cor 
poration. 

The  high-handed  career  of  this  institution  imposes  upon  the 
constitutional  functionaries  of  this  Government  duties  of  the 
gravest  and  most  imperative  character  —  duties  which  they  can 
not  avoid,  and  from  which,  I  trust,  there  will  be  no  inclination  on 
the  part  of  any  of  them  to  shrink.  My  own  sense  of  them  is 
most  clear,  as  is  also  my  readiness  to  discharge  those  which  may 
rightfully  fall  on  me.  To  continue  any  business  relations  with  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  that  may  be  avoided,  without  a  viola 
tion  of  the  national  faith,  after  that  institution  has  set  at  open 
defiance  the  conceded  right  of  the  Government  to  examine  its 
affairs ;  after  it  has  done  all  in  its  power  to  deride  the  public 
authority  in  other  respects,  and  to  bring  it  into  disrepute  at  home 
and  abroad ;  after  it  has  attempted  to  defeat  the  clearly  expressed 
will  of  the  people,  by  turning  against  them  the  immense  power 


1834]  JACKSON'S   SIXTH   MESSAGE  321 

intrusted  to  its  hands,  and  by  involving  a  country,  otherwise 
peaceful,  flourishing,  and  happy,  in  dissension,  embarrassment, 
and  distress  —  would  make  the  nation  itself  a  party  to  the  degra 
dation  so  sedulously  prepared  for  its  public  agents,  and  do  much 
to  destroy  the  confidence  of  mankind  in  popular  governments, 
and  to  bring  into  contempt  their  authority  and  efficiency.  In 
guarding  against  an  evil  of  such  magnitude,  considerations  of 
temporary  convenience  should  be  thrown  out  of  the  question,  and 
we  should  be  influenced  by  such  motives  only  as  look  to  the 
honor  and  preservation  of  the  republican  system.  Deeply  and 
solemnly  impressed  with  the  justice  of  these  views,  I  feel  it  to  be 
my  duty  to  recommend  to  you,  that  a  law  be  passed  authorizing 
the  sale  of  the  public  stock ;  that  the  provision  of  the  charter, 
requiring  the  receipt  of  notes  of  the  bank  in  payment  of  public 
dues,  shall,  in  accordance  with  the  power  reserved  to  Congress, 
in  the  i4th  section  of  the  charter,  be  suspended  until  the  bank 
pays  to  the  Treasury  the  dividends  withheld ;  and  that  all  laws 
connecting  the  Government  or  its  officers  with  the  Bank,  directly 
or  indirectly,  be  repealed ;  and  that  the  institution  be  left  here 
after  to  its  own  resources  and  means. 

Events  have  satisfied  my  mind,  and  I  think  the  minds  of  the 
American  people,  that  the  mischiefs  and  dangers  which  flow  from 
a  national  bank  far  overbalance  all  its  advantages.  The  bold 
effort  the  present  bank  has  made  to  control  the  Government,  the 
distresses  it  has  wantonly  produced,  the  violence  of  which  it  has 
been  the  occasion  in  one  of  our  cities,  famed  for  its  observance  of 
law  and  order,  are  but  premonitions  of  the  fate  which  awaits  the 
American  people  should  they  be  deluded  into  a  perpetuation  of 
this  institution,  or  the  establishment  of  another  like  it.  It  is 
fervently  hoped,  that,  thus  admonished,  those,  who  have  hereto 
fore  favored  the  establishment  of  a  substitute  for  the  present 
bank,  will  be  induced  to  abandon  it,  as  it  is  evidently  better  to 
incur  any  inconvenience  that  may  be  reasonably  expected,  than 
to  concentrate  the  whole  moneyed  power  of  the  Republic  in  any 
form  whatsoever,  or  under  any  restrictions. 

Happily  it  is  already  illustrated  that  the  agency  of  such  an  insti 
tution  is  not  necessary  to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the  Government. 
The  State  banks  are  found  fully  adequate  to  the  performance  of 
all  services  which  were  required  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
quite  as  promptly,  and  with  the  same  cheapness.  They  have 


322  JACKSON'S   SIXTH   MESSAGE  [Dec.  2 

maintained  themselves,  and  discharged  all  these  duties,  while  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  was  still  powerful,  and  in  the  field  as 
an  open  enemy ;  and  it  is  not  possible  to  conceive  that  they  will 
find  greater  difficulties  in  their  operations  when  that  enemy  shall 
cease  to  exist. 

The  attention  of  Congress  is  earnestly  invited  to  the  regulation 
of  the  deposites  in  the  State  banks,  by  law.  Although  the  power 
now  exercised  by  the  Executive  Department  in  this  behalf,  is  only 
such  as  was  uniformly  exerted  through  every  Administration  from 
the  origin  of  the  Government  up  to  the  establishment  of  the 
present  bank,  yet,  it  is  one  which  is  susceptible  of  regulation  by 
law,  and,  therefore  ought  so  to  be  regulated.  The  power  of  Con 
gress  to  direct  in  what  places  the  Treasurer  shall  keep  the  moneys 
in  the  Treasury,  and  to  impose  restrictions  upon  the  Executive 
authority,  in  relation  to  their  custody  and  removal,  is  unlimited, 
and  its  exercise  will  rather  be  courted  than  discouraged  by  those 
public  officers  and  agents  on  whom  rests  the  responsibility  for 
their  safety.  It  is  desirable  that  as  little  power  as  possible  should 
be  left  to  the  President  or  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  over 
those  institutions  —  which,  being  thus  freed  from  Executive  influ 
ence,  and  without  a  common  head  to  direct  their  operations, 
would  have  neither  the  temptation  nor  the  ability  to  interfere  in 
the  political  conflicts  of  the  country.  Not  deriving  their  charters 
from  the  national  authorities,  they  would  never  have  those  induce 
ments  to  meddle  in  general  elections,  which  have  led  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  to  agitate  and  convulse  the  country  for  upwards 
of  two  years. 

The  progress  of  our  gold  coinage  is  creditable  to  the  officers  of 
the  mint,  and  promises  in  a  short  period  to  furnish  the  country 
with  a  sound  and  portable  currency,  which  will  much  diminish  the 
inconvenience  to  travellers  of  the  want  of  a  general  paper  currency, 
should  the  State  banks  be  incapable  of  furnishing  it.  Those  in 
stitutions  have  already  shown  themselves  competent  to  purchase 
and  furnish  domestic  exchange  for  the  convenience  of  trade,  at 
reasonable  rates ;  and  not  a  doubt  is  entertained  that,  in  a  short 
period,  all  the  wants  of  the  country,  in  bank  accommodations  and 
exchange,  will  be  supplied  as  promptly  and  as  cheaply  as  they 
have  heretofore  been  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  If  the 
several  States  shall  be  induced  gradually  to  reform  their  banking 
systems,  and  prohibit  the  issue  of  all  small  notes,  we  shall,  in  a 


1834]  REGULATION  OF  DEPOSITS  323 

few  years,  have  a  currency  as  sound,  and  as  little  liable  to  fluctua 
tions,  as  any  other  commercial  country. 


No.   66.     Act  to  Regulate  the  Deposits 

June  23,  1836 

IN  his  annual  message  of  Dec.  7,  1835,  Jackson  announced  the  extinguish 
ment  of  the  national  debt,  and  renewed  the  recommendation  contained  in  his 
annual  message  of  Dec.  2,  1834,  that  suitable  regulation  of  the  public  deposits 
be  made.  In  the  Senate,  Dec.  29,  Calhoun  brought  in  a  bill  for  that  purpose, 
together  with  a  joint  resolution  "  proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
providing  for  a  distribution  of  the  surplus  revenues  among  the  several  States 
and  Territories,  until  the  year  1843."  The  joint  resolution  was  laid  on  the 
table  March  4.  The  bill  to  regulate  the  deposits  was  taken  up  April  21,  and 
debated  at  intervals  until  June  17,  when,  with  an  amendment  providing  for 
the  distribution  of  the  surplus  revenue  among  the  States,  it  passed  by  a  vote 
of  39  to  6.  The  House  passed  the  bill  on  the  2ist,  by  a  vote  of  155  to  38, 
with  an  amendment  making  the  distributed  revenue  a  loan  to  the  States,  in 
stead  of  a  gift.  In  each  House  attempts  to  divide  the  measure  were  unsuccess 
ful.  The  Senate  concurred  in  the  House  amendment,  and  June  23  the  act 
was  approved.  A  bill  for  regulating  the  deposits  had  been  introduced  in  the 
House  March  21,  but  repeated  efforts  to  secure  its  consideration  failed.  A 
supplementary  act  of  July  4  authorized  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  make 
transfers  of  the  public  money  from  the  banks  of  one  State  to  those  of  another, 
whenever  necessary  "to  prevent  large  and  inconvenient  accumulations  in  par 
ticular  places,  or  in  order  to  produce  a  due  equality  and  just  proportion." 
Quarterly  payments  under  the  act  were  made  in  January,  April,  and  July, 
1837,  to  tne  amount  of  $  28,000,000;  after  that  there  was  no  longer  a  surplus, 
and  the  distribution  ceased.  The  money  thus  loaned  to  the  States  was  never 
recalled. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  V.,  52-56.  For  the  proceed 
ings,  see  the  House  and  Senate  Journals,  24th  Cong.,  1st  Sess.;  for  the  discus 
sions,  see  Cong.  Debates,  or  Cong.  Globe,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XII.  Web 
ster's  speech  of  March  17,  on  the  deposit  banks,  is  in  his  Works  (ed.  1857), 
IV.,  235-237;  speech  of  May  31,  on  the  surplus  revenue,  ib.,  IV.,  252-264. 
For  Calhoun's  speech  of  May  28,  on  the  regulation  of  the  deposits,  see  his 
Works  (ed.  1857),  II.,  534-569.  The  treatment  of  the  surplus  and  public 
deposits  was  discussed  in  the  annual  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
Dec.  6,  1836.  Jackson,  in  his  annual  message  of  Dec.  5,  criticised  the  deposit 
act  at  length.  See  further,  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  I.,  chap.  128; 
Bourne's  History  of  the  Surplus  Revenue  of  1837;  Knox's  United  States 
Notes,  chap.  12. 


324  REGULATION  OF   DEPOSITS  [June  23 

An  Act  to  regulate  the  deposites  of  the  public  money. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  select  as  soon  as  may 
be  practicable  and  employ  as  the  depositories  of  the  money  of  the 
United  States,  such  of  the  banks  incorporated  by  the  several 
States,  by  Congress  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  or  by  the  Legisla 
tive  Councils  of  the  respective  Territories  for  those  Territories,  as 
may  be  located  at,  adjacent  or  convenient  to  the  points  or  places 
at  which  the  revenues  may  be  collected,  or  disbursed,  and  in  those 
States,  Territories  or  Districts  in  which  there  are  no  banks,  and 
within  which  the  public  collections  or  disbursements  require  a 
depository,  the  said  Secretary  may  make  arrangements  with  a  bank 
or  banks,  in  some  other  State,  Territory  or  District,  to  establish  an 
agency,  or  agencies,  in  the  States,  Territories  or  Districts  so  desti 
tute  of  banks,  as  banks  of  deposite ;  and  to  receive  through  such 
agencies  such  deposites  of  the  public  money,  as  may  be  directed 
to  be  made  at  the  points  designated,  and  to  make  such  disburse 
ments  as  the  public  service  may  require  at  those  points  ;  the  duties 
and  liabilities  of  every  bank  thus  establishing  any  such  agency  to 
be  the  same  in  respect  to  its  agency,  as  are  the  duties  and  liabili 
ties  of  deposit  banks  generally  under  the  provisions  of  this  act : 
Provided,  That  at  least  one  such  bank  shall  be  selected  in  each  State 
and  Territory,  if  any  can  be  found  in  each  State  and  Territory  willing 
to  be  employed  as  depositories  of  the  public  money,  upon  the  terms 
and  conditions  hereinafter  prescribed,  and  continue  to  conform 
thereto ;  and  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  not  suffer  to 
remain  in  any  deposite  bank,  an  amount  of  the  public  moneys  more 
than  equal  to  three-fourths  of  the  amount  of  its  capital  stock  actually 
paid  in,  for  a  longer  time  than  may  be  necessary  to  enable  him  to 
make  the  transfers  required  by  the  twelfth  section  of  this  act ;  and 
that  the  banks  so  selected,  shall  be,  in  his  opinion,  safe  depositories 
of  the  public  money,  and  shall  be  willing  to  undertake  to  do  and 
perform  the  several  duties  and  services,  and  to  conform  to  the 
several  conditions  prescribed  by  this  act. 

SEC.  2.  [In  the  absence  of  a  bank  satisfactory  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  or  in  case  of  refusal,  the  public  moneys  may  be  de 
posited  at  some  other  convenient  point,  subject  to  withdrawal  at 
any  time  by  direction  of  Congress.] 


1836]  REGULATION  OF  DEPOSITS  325 

SEC.  3.  [Certain  statements  and  documents  to  be  furnished  by 
deposit  banks.] 

SEC.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  banks,  before 
they  shall  be  employed  as  the  depositories  of  the  public  money, 
shall  agree  to  receive  the  same,  upon  the  following  terms  and 
conditions,  to  wit : 

First.  Each  bank  shall  furnish  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
from  time  to  time,  as  often  as  he  may  require,  not  exceeding  once 
a  week,  statements  setting  forth  its  condition  and  business,  as 
prescribed  in  the  foregoing  section  of  this  act,  except  that  such 
statements  need  not,  unless  requested  by  said  Secretary,  contain  a 
list  of  the  directors,  or  a  copy  of  the  charter.  And  the  said  banks 
shall  furnish  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  to  the  Treasurer 
of  the  United  States,  a  weekly  statement  of  the  condition  of  his 
account  upon  their  books.  And  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
shall  have  the  right,  by  himself,  or  an  agent  appointed  for  that 
purpose,  to  inspect  such  general  accounts  in  the  books  of  the  bank, 
as  shall  relate  to  the  said  statements  :  Provided,  That  this  shall 
not  be  construed  to  imply  a  right  of  inspecting  the  account  of  any 
private  individual  or  individuals  with  the  bank. 

Secondly.  To  credit  as  specie,  all  sums  deposited  therein  to 
the  credit  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  and  to  pay  all 
checks,  warrants,  or  drafts,  drawn  on  such  deposites,  in  specie  if 
required  by  the  holder  thereof. 

Thirdly.  To  give,  whenever  required  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  the  necessary  facilities  for  transferring  the  public  funds 
from  place  to  place,  within  the  United  States,  and  the  Territories 
thereof,  and  for  distributing  the  same  in  payment  of  the  public 
creditors,  without  charging  commissions  or  claiming  allowance  on 
account  of  difference  of  exchange. 

Fourthly.  To  render  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
all  the  duties  and  services  heretofore  required  by  law  to  be  per 
formed  by  the  late  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its  several 
branches  or  offices. 

SEC.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  bank  shall  be 
selected  or  continued  as  a  place  of  deposite  of  the  public  money 
which  shall  not  redeem  its  notes  and  bills  on  demand  in 
specie.  .  .  . 

[Sections  6  to  10,  inclusive,  prescribe  various  administrative 
regulations.] 


326  SURPLUS   REVENUE  [June  23 

SEC.  ii.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  whenever  the  amount 
of  public  deposites  to  the  credit  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States,  in  any  bank  shall,  for  a  whole  quarter  of  a  year,  exceed  the 
one-fourth  part  of  the  amount  of  the  capital  stock  of  such  bank 
actually  paid  in,  the  banks  shall  allow  and  pay  to  the  United 
States,  for  the  use  of  the  excess  of  the  deposites  over  the  one- 
fourth  part  of  its  capital,  an  interest  at  the  rate  of  two  per  centum 
per  annum,  to  be  calculated  for  each  quarter,  upon  the  average 
excesses  of  the  quarter.  .  .  . 

SEC.  12.  [Transfers  of  public  money  between  banks,  in  certain 
cases,  are  declared  illegal.] 

SEC.  13.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  money  which 
shall  be  in  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-seven,  reserving  the  sum  of 
five  millions  of  dollars,  shall  be  deposited  with  such  of  the  several 
States,  in  proportion  to  their  respective  representation  in  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  as 
shall,  by  law,  authorize  their  Treasurers,  or  other  competent 
authorities  to  receive  the  same  on  the  terms  hereinafter  specified ; 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  deliver  the  same  to  such 
Treasurers,  or  other  competent  authorities,  in  such  form  as  may 
be  prescribed  by  the  Secretary  aforesaid  ;  which  certificates  shall 
express  the  usual  and  legal  obligations,  and  pledge  the  faith  of  the 
State,  for  the  safe  keeping  and  repayment  thereof,  and  shall  pledge 
the  faith  of  the  States  receiving  the  same,  to  pay  the  said  moneys, 
and  every  part  thereof,  from  time  to  time,  whenever  the  same 
shall  be  required,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  defraying  any  wants  of  the  public  treasury,  beyond  the 
amount  of  the  five  millions  aforesaid  :  Provided,  That  if  any  State 
declines  to  receive  its  proportion  of  the  surplus  aforesaid,  on  the 
terms  before  named,  the  same  shall  be  deposited  with  the  other 
States,  agreeing  to  accept  the  same  on  deposite  in  the  proportion 
aforesaid:  And  provided  further,  That  when  said  money,  or  any 
part  thereof,  shall  be  wanted  by  the  said  Secretary,  to  meet  appro 
priations  by  law,  the  same  shall  be  called  for,  in  rateable  pro 
portions,  within  one  year,  as  nearly  as  conveniently  may  be,  from 
the  different  States,  with  which  the  same  is  deposited,  and  shall 
not  be  called  for,  in  sums  exceeding  ten  thousand  dollars,  from 
any  one  State,  in  any  one  month,  without  previous  notice  of 
thirty  days,  for  every  additional  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars, 
which  may  at  any  time  be  required. 


1836]  SPECIE  CIRCULAR  327 

SEC.  14.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  deposites  shall 
be  made  with  the  said  States  in  the  following  proportions,  and  at 
the  following  times,  to  wit :  one  quarter  part  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty  seven,  or  as  soon  thereafter 
as  may  be ;  one  quarter  part  on  the  first  day  of  April,  one  quarter 
part  on  the  first  day  of  July,  and  one  quarter  part  on  the  first  day 
of  October,  all  in  the  same  year. 


No.   67.     Specie  Circular 

July  n,  1836 

ONE  effect  of  the  speculative  fever  which  began  early  in  1835  was  an 
enormous  increase  in  the  sales  of  the  public  lands.  By  law,  payments  for 
lands  could  be  made  only  in  gold  and  silver,  or  in  notes  of  specie  paying 
banks;  but  a  large  part  of  the  payments  was  in  fact  made  in  State  bank  notes, 
which  in  the  West  had  largely  driven  specie  out  of  circulation.  The  United 
States  thus  found  that  the  public  domain  was  being  disposed  of  for  a  currency 
of  doubtful  or  more  than  doubtful  value.  The  subject  of  the  coinage  had 
been  before  Congress  since  1834,  and  Jackson  had  declared  himself  in  favor 
of  gold  and  silver  as  the  "true  constitutional  currency."  April  23,  1836, 
Benton  moved  that  thereafter  "  nothing  but  gold  and  silver  coin  ought  to  be 
received  in  payment  for  public  lands."  The  motion  was  tabled,  and  the  ses 
sion  ended  without  action.  July  1 1,  by  direction  of  the  President,  the  so-called 
specie  circular  was  issued.  An  inquiry  into  the  effect  of  the  circular,  was 
moved  by  Benton  Jan.  12,  1837,  and  a  bill  "designating  and  limiting  the 
funds  receivable  for  the  revenues  of  the  United  States "  passed  the  Senate 
Feb.  10,  by  a  vote  of  41  to  5,  and  the  House  March  I,  without  a  division, 
but  was  vetoed  by  the  President.  By  a  joint  resolution  approved  May  21, 
1838,  it  was  declared  unlawful  for  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  "to  make 
or  to  continue  in  force,  any  general  order,  which  shall  create  any  difference 
between  the  different  branches  of  revenue,  as  to  the  money  or  medium 
of  payment,  in  which  debts  or  dues,  accruing  to  the  United  States,  may 
be  paid." 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Senate  Doc.  2,  24th  Cong.,  2cl  Sess.,  p.  96.  The 
reasons  for  the  circular  were  discussed  by  Jackson  in  his  annual  message  of 
Dec.  5,  1836.  Wright's  report  of  May  .16,  1838,  is  Senate  Doc.  445,  25th 
Cong.,  2d  Sess.  Webster's  speech  of  April  23,  1836,  on  Benton's  motion,  is 
in  his  Works  (ed.  1857),  IV.,  238-246;  for  his  speech  of  Dec.  21,  on  the 
circular,  ib.,  IV.,  265-291.  See  also  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  Vieiv,  I.,  chaps. 
146,  156.  On  a  similar  Treasury  order  of  August,  1827,  see  J.  Q.  Adams's 
Memoirs,  VII.,  427.  Jackson's  statement  of  reasons  for  not  signing  the  bill 


328  SPECIE   CIRCULAR  [July  u 

of  1837,  witn  an  accompanying  opinion  of  the  Attorney-General,  is  in  Ari/es's 
Register,  LI  I.,  26,  27. 

Circular  to  Receivers  of  Public  Money,  and  to  the  Deposite  Banks 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  July  n,  1836. 

IN  consequence  of  complaints  which  have  been  made  of  frauds, 
speculations,  and  monopolies,  in  the  purchase  of  the  public  lands, 
and  the  aid  which  is  said  to  be  given  to  effect  these  objects  by 
excessive  bank  credits,  and  dangerous  if  not  partial  facilities 
through  bank  drafts  and  bank  deposites,  and  the  general  evil  influ 
ence  likely  to  result  to  the  public  interests,  and  especially  the 
safety  of  the  great  amount  of  money  in  the  Treasury,  and  the 
sound  condition  of  the  currency  of  the  country,  from  the  further 
exchange  of  the  national  domain  in  this  manner,  the  President  of 
the  United  States  has  given  directions,  and  you  are  hereby  in 
structed,  after  the  i5th  day  of  August  next,  to  receive  in  payment 
of  the  public  lands  nothing  except  what  is  directed  by  the  existing 
laws,  viz  :  gold  and  silver,  and  in  the  proper  cases,  Virginia  land 
scrip;  provided  that  till  the  i5th  of  December  next,  the  same 
indulgences  heretofore  extended  as  to  the  kind  of  money  re 
ceived,  may  be  continued  for  any  quantity  of  land  not  exceeding 
320  acres  to  each  purchaser  who  is  an  actual  settler  or  bona  fide 
resident  in  the  State  where  the  sales  are  made. 

In  order  to  ensure  the  faithful  execution  of  these  instructions, 
all  receivers  are  strictly  prohibited  from  accepting  for  land  sold, 
any  draft,  certificate,  or  other  evidence  of  money,  or  deposite, 
though  for  specie,  unless  signed  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States,  in  conformity  to  the  act  of  April  24,  1820.  And  each  of 
those  officers  is  required  to  annex  to  his  monthly  returns  to  this 
Department,  the  amount  of  gold,  and  of  silver,  respectively,  as 
well  as  the  bills  received  under  the  foregoing  exception ;  and  each 
deposite  bank  is  required  to  annex  to  every  certificate  given  upon 
a  deposite  of  money,  the  proportions  of  it  actually  paid  in  gold, 
in  silver,  and  in  bank  notes.  All  former  instructions  on  these 
subjects,  except  as  now  modified,  will  be  considered  as  remaining 
in  full  force. 

The  principal  objects  of  the  President  in  adopting  this  measure 
being  to  repress  alleged  frauds,  and  to  withhold  any  countenance 
or  facilities  in  the  power  of  the  Government  from  the  monopoly 
of  the  public  lands  in  the  hands  of  speculators  and  capitalists,  to 


1836]  EXPUNGING   RESOLUTION  329 

the  injury  of  the  actual  settlers  in  the  new  States,  and  of  emigrants 
in  search  of  new  homes,  as  well  as  to  discourage  the  ruinous 
extension  of  bank  issues,  and  bank  credits,  by  which  those  results 
are  generally  supposed  to  be  promoted,  your  utmost  vigilance 
is  required,  and  relied  on,  to  carry  this  order  into  complete 
execution. 

LEVI  WOODBURY, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


No.   68.     Benton's  Expunging  Resolution 

January  16,   1837 

IN  the  course  of  the  debate  on  the  reception  of  Jackson's  protest  against 
the  Senate  resolution  of  censure,  Benton  announced  his  purpose  to  introduce, 
at  each  succeeding  session,  a  motion  to  expunge  the  resolution  of  censure 
from  the  journal  until  the  desired  action  was  taken  or  his  own  public  career 
ended.  A  motion  to  this  effect,  introduced  Feb.  27,  1835,  vvas  ^a^  on  tne 
table.  Resolutions  introduced  March  18,  1836,  were  discussed  at  intervals 
until  April  5,  when  they  were  ordered  to  be  printed;  May  27  they  were 
tabled.  A  resolution,  substantially  as  passed  later,  was  again  presented  Jan.  3, 
1837,  taken  up  on  the  I2th,  and  on  the  1 6th  agreed  to,  by  a  vote  of  24  to  19. 
While  the  secretary  of  the  Senate  was  performing  the  duty  devolved  upon 
him  by  the  resolution,  many  members  withdrew.  A  motion  to  rescind  the 
expunging  resolution  was  offered  by  Bayard  of  Delaware,  Dec.  14,  1837,  but 
no  action  was  taken. 

REFERENCES.  —  The  text  as  here  given  is  from  the  Senate  Journal,  24th 
Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  pp.  81-83,  with  the  amendments  adopted  Jan.  13  and  16 
incorporated.  The  discussions  may  be  followed  in  the  Cong.  Debates,  or  Cong. 
Globe,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XII.,  XIII.  Clay's  speech  of  Jan.  16  is  in  his 
Life  and  Speeches  (ed.  1844),  II.,  264-278;  Benton's  account  is  in  his  Thirty 
Years'  View,  I.,  chaps.  122-124,  141,  159-161.  See  also  Niles*s  Register,  L., 
25-32,  168-184. 

WHEREAS,  on  the  26th  day  of  December,  in  the  year  1833,  the 
following  resolve  was  moved  in  the  Senate  : 

"  Resolved,  That,  by  dismissing  the  late  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  because  he  would  not,  contrary  to  his  own  sense  of  duty, 
remove  the  money  of  the  United  States  in  deposite  with  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  and  its  branches,  in  conformity  with  the 
President's  opinion,  and,  by  appointing  his  successor  to  effect 
such  removal,  which  has  been  done,  the  President  has  assumed 


330  EXPUNGING  RESOLUTION  [Jan.  16 

the  exercise  of  a  power  over  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States, 
not  granted  him  by  the  constitution  and  laws,  and  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  of  the  people."  - 

Which  proposed  resolve  was  altered  and  changed  by  the  mover 
thereof,  on  the  28th  day  of  March,  in  the  year  1834,  so  as  to  read 
as  follows  : 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  taking  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of 
removing  the  deposite  of  the  public  money  from  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  assumed  the 
exercise  of  a  power  over  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  not 
granted  to  him  by  the  constitution  and  laws,  and  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  of  the  people."  — 

Which  resolve,  so  changed  and  modified  by  the  mover  thereof, 
on  the  same  day  and  year  last  mentioned  was  further  altered  so 
as  to  read  in  these  words  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  President,  in  the  late  executive  proceed 
ings  in  relation  to  the  revenue,  has  assumed  upon  himself  authority 
and  power  not  conferred  by  the  constitution  and  laws,  but  in 
derogation  of  both."  — 

In  which  last-mentioned  form  the  said  resolve,  on  the  same  day 
and  year  last  mentioned,  was  adopted  by  the  Senate,  and  became 
the  act  and  judgment  of  that  body,  and,  as  such,  now  remains 
upon  the  Journal  thereof : 

And  whereas  the  said  resolve  was  not  warranted  by  the  consti 
tution,  and  was  irregularly  and  illegally  adopted  by  the  Senate,  in 
violation  of  the  rights  of  defence  which  belong  to  every  citizen, 
and  in  subversion  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  law  and  justice  : 
because  President  Jackson  was  thereby  adjudged  and  pronounced 
to  be  guilty  of  an  impeachable  offence,  and  a  stigma  placed  upon 
him  as  a  violator  of  his  oath  of  office,  and  of  the  laws  and 
constitution,  which  he  was  sworn  to  preserve,  protect,  and 
defend,  without  going  through  the  forms  of  an  impeachment, 
and  without  allowing  to  him  the  benefits  of  a  trial,  or  the  means 
of  defence  : 

And  whereas  the  said  resolve,  in  all  its  various  shapes  and 
forms,  was  unfounded  and  erroneous  in  point  of  fact,  and  there 
fore  unjust  and  unrighteous,  as  well  as  irregular  and  unauthorized 
by  the  constitution  :  because  the  said  President  Jackson,  neither 
in  the  act  of  dismissing  Mr.  Duane,  nor  in  the  appointment  of 
Mr.  Taney,  as  specified  in  the  first  form  of  the  resolve ;  nor  in 


1837]  EXPUNGING  RESOLUTION  331 

taking  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  removing  the  deposites, 
as  specified  in  the  second  form  of  the  same  resolve  ;  nor  in  any 
act  which  was  then,  or  can  now,  be  specified  under  the  vague  and 
ambiguous  terms  of  the  general  denunciation  contained  in  the 
third  and  last  form  of  the  resolve ;  did  do  or  commit  any  act  in 
violation  or  in  derogation  of  the  laws  and  constitution,  or  danger 
ous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people  : 

And  whereas  the  said  resolve,  as  adopted,  was  uncertain  and 
ambiguous,  containing  nothing  but  a  loose  and  floating  charge  for 
derogating  from  the  laws  and  constitution,  and  assuming  un- 
granted  power  and  authority  in  the  late  executive  proceedings  in 
relation  to  the  public  revenue ;  without  specifying  what  part  of 
the  executive  proceedings,  or  what  part  of  the  public  revenue  was 
intended  to  be  referred  to  ;  or  what  parts  of  the  laws  and  constitu 
tion  were  supposed  to  have  been  infringed  ;  or  in  what  part  of  the 
Union,  or  at  what  period  of  his  administration,  these  late  proceed 
ings  were  supposed  to  have  taken  place ;  thereby  putting  each 
Senator  at  liberty  to  vote  in  favor  of  the  resolve  upon  a  separate 
and  secret  reason  of  his  own,  and  leaving  the  ground  of  the  Sen 
ate's  judgment  to  be  guessed  at  by  the  public,  and  to  be  differently 
and  diversely  interpreted  by  individual  Senators,  according  to  the 
private  and  particular  understanding  of  each :  contrary  to  all  the 
ends  of  justice,  and  to  all  the  forms  of  legal  or  judicial  proceed 
ing  ;  to  the  great  prejudice  of  the  accused,  who  could  not  know 
against  what  to  defend  himself;  and  to  the  loss  of  senatorial 
responsibility,  by  shielding  Senators  from  public  accountability  for 
making  up  a  judgment  upon  grounds  which  the  public  cannot 
know,  and  which,  if  known,  might  prove  to  be  insufficient  in  law, 
or  unfounded  in  fact : 

And  whereas  the  specification  contained  in  the  first  and  second 
forms  of  the  resolve  having  been  objected  to  in  debate  and  shown 
to  be  insufficient  to  sustain  the  charges  they  were  adduced  to 
support,  and  it  being  well  believed  that  no  majority  could  be 
obtained  to  vote  for  the  said  specifications,  and  the  same  having 
been  actually  withdrawn  by  the  mover  in  the  face  of  the  whole 
Senate  in  consequence  of  such  objection  and  belief,  and  before 
any  vote  taken  thereupon ;  the  said  specifications  could  not  after 
wards  be  admitted  by  any  rule  of  parliamentary  practice,  or  by  any 
principle  of  legal  implication,  secret  intendment,  or  mental  reser 
vation,  to  remain  and  continue  a  part  of  the  written  and  public 


332  EXPUNGING   RESOLUTION  [Jan.  16 

resolve  from  which  they  were  thus  withdrawn ;  and,  if  they  could 
be  so  admitted,  they  would  not  be  sufficient  to  sustain  the  charges 
therein  contained  : 

And  whereas  the  Senate  being  the  constitutional  tribunal  for 
the  trial  of  the  President,  when  charged  by  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  with  offences  against  the  laws  and  the  constitution,  the 
adoption  of  the  said  resolve,  before  any  impeachment  preferred 
by  the  House,  was  a  breach  of  the  privileges  of  the  House ;  not 
warranted  by  the  constitution  ;  a  subversion  of  justice  ;  a  prejudi- 
cation  of  a  question  which  might  legally  come  before  the  Senate ; 
and  a  disqualification  of  that  body  to  perform  its  constitutional 
duty 'with  fairness  and  impartiality,  if  the  President  should  there 
after  be  regularly  impeached  by  the  House  of  Representatives  for 
the  same  offence : 

And  whereas  the  temperate,  respectful,  and  argumentative  de 
fence  and  protest  of  the  President  against  the  aforesaid  proceeding 
of  the  Senate  was  rejected  and  repulsed  by  that  body,  and  was 
voted  to  be  a  breach  of  its  privileges,  and  was  not  permitted  to 
be  entered  on  its  Journal  or  printed  among  its  documents  ;  while 
all  memorials,  petitions,  resolves,  and  remonstrances  against  the 
President,  however  violent  or  unfounded,  and  calculated  to  in 
flame  the  people  against  him,  were  duly  and  honorably  received, 
encomiastically  commented  upon  in  speeches,  read  at  the  table, 
ordered  to  be  printed  with  the  long  list  of  names  attached, 
referred  to  the  Finance  Committee  for  consideration,  filed  away 
among  the  public  archives,  and  now  constitute  a  part  of  the 
public  documents  of  the  Senate,  to  be  handed  down  to  the  latest 
posterity : 

And  whereas  the  said  resolve  was  introduced,  debated,  and 
adopted,  at  a  time  and  under  circumstances  which  had  the  effect 
of  co-operating  with  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  in  the  parri 
cidal  attempt  which  that  institution  was  then  making  to  produce 
a  panic  and  pressure  in  the  country ;  to  destroy  the  confidence  of 
the  people  in  President  Jackson ;  to  paralyze  his  administration ; 
to  govern  the  elections  ;  to  bankrupt  the  State  banks ;  ruin  their 
currency ;  fill  the  whole  Union  with  terror  and  distress ;  and 
thereby  to  extort  from  the  sufferings  and  the  alarms  of  the  people, 
the  restoration  of  the  deposites  and  the  renewal  of  its  charter  : 

And  whereas  the  said  resolve  is  of  evil  example  and  dangerous 
precedent,  and  should  never  have  been  received,  debated,  or 


1837]  GIDDINGS  ON  SLAVERY  333 

adopted  by  the  Senate,  or  admitted  to  entry  upon  its  Journal : 
Wherefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  said  resolve  be  expunged  from  the  Journal ; 
and,  for  that  purpose,  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate,  at  such 
time  as  the  Senate  may  appoint,  shall  bring  the  manuscript  Jour 
nal  of  the  session  1833-34  into  the  Senate,  and,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Senate,  draw  black  lines  round  the  said  resolve,  and  write 
across  the  face  thereof,  in  strong  letters,  the  following  words  : 
"  EXPUNGED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  SENATE,  THIS  SIXTEENTH  DAY  OF 
JANUARY,  IN  THE  YEAR  OF  OUR  LORD  1837." 


No.   69.     Giddings's   Resolutions  on  Slavery 

March  21,   1842 

IN  November,  1841,  a  number  of  slaves  on  board  the  brig  "Creole,"  bound 
from  Hampton,  Va.,  to  New  Orleans,  revolted,  took  possession  of  the  vessel, 
and  went  to  Nassau.  There  they  were  imprisoned  by  the  English  authorities, 
who  refused  to  surrender  them  to  the  American  consul  without  an  order  from 
the  home  government.  Webster,  in  a  dispatch  to  the  United  States  minister 
at  London,  claimed  that  slaves,  being  property  under  the  Constitution,  con 
tinued  to  be  such  even  on  the  high  seas,  and  should  be  given  up  by  Great 
Britain  under  the  law  of  nations.  It  was  to  combat  this  view  that  Giddings 
of  Ohio  offered  in  the  House,  March  21,  1842,  the  resolutions  which  follow, 
and  which  embodied  "  the  basis  for  the  subsequent  resistance  to  the  extension 
of  slavery  to  the  Territories."  The  resolutions  brought  on  a  violent  debate, 
ending  in  the  adoption  the  following  day,  by  votes  of  119  to  66  and  125  to 
64,  of  a  long  preamble  and  resolution,  censuring  Giddings  for  his  action.  On 
the  same  day  Giddings  resigned  his  seat,  was  re-elected  April  26  by  an  in 
creased  majority,  and  again  took  his  seat  May  5. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  of  the  resolutions  in  House  Journal,  27th  Cong., 
2d  Sess. ;  for  the  resolution  of  censure,  ib.,  580.  For  the  discussions  see  the 
Cong.  Globe,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XIV.  The  diplomatic  correspondence 
regarding  the  "  Creole  "  is  in  ffouse  Exec.  Doc.  2,  2yth  Cong.,  3d  Sess.,  pp. 
114—123,  and  Senate  Doc.  i,  pp.  1 16-125.  See  also  Von  Hoist's  United  States, 
II.,  479-486;  J.  Q.  Adams's  Memoirs,  XI.,  113-115;  Wilson's  Rise  and  Fall 
of  the  Slave  Power,  I.,  chap.  31;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  II.,  chap.  98. 

i.  Resolved,  That,  prior  to  the  adoption  of  our  Federal  Consti 
tution,  each  of  the  several  States  composing  this  Union  exercised 
full  and  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  the  subject  of  slavery  within 
its  own  territory,  and  possessed  full  power  to  continue  or  abolish 
it  at  pleasure. 


334  GIDDINGS   ON   SLAVERY  [March  21 

2.  Resolved,  That,  by  adopting  the  Constitution,  no  part  of  the 
aforesaid  powers  were  delegated  to  the  Federal  Government,  but 
were  reserved  by  and  still  pertain  to  each  of  the  several  States. 

3.  Resolved,  That,  by  the  8th  section  of  the   ist  article  of  the 
Constitution,  each  of  the  several  States  surrendered  to  the  Federal 
Government  all  jurisdiction  over  the  subjects  of  commerce  and 
navigation  upon  the  high  seas. 

4.  Resolved,  That  slavery,  being  an  abridgment  of  the  natural 
rights  of  man,  can  exist  only  by  force  of  positive  municipal  law, 
and  is  necessarily  confined  to  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  the 
power  creating  it. 

5.  Resolved,  That  when  a  ship  belonging  to  the  citizens  of  any 
State  of  this  Union  leaves  the  waters  and  territory  of  such  State, 
and  enters  upon  the  high  seas,  the  persons  on  board  cease  to  be 
subject  to  the  slave  laws  of  such  State,  and  therefore  are  governed 
in  their  relations  to  each  other  by,  and  are  amenable  to,  the  laws 
of  the  United  States. 

6.  Resolved,  That  when  the  brig  Creole,  on  her  late  passage 
for  New  Orleans,  left  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  Virginia,  the 
slave  laws  of  that  State  ceased  to  have  jurisdiction  over  the  per 
sons  on  board  said  brig,  and  such  persons  became  amenable  only 
to  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

7.  Resolved,  That  the  persons  on  board  the  said  ship,  in  resum 
ing  their  natural  rights  of  personal  liberty,  violated  no  law  of  the 
United  States,  incurred  no  legal  responsibility,  and  are  justly  liable 
to  no  punishment. 

8.  Resolved,  That  all  attempts  to  regain  possession  of  or  to 
re-enslave  said  persons  are  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution  or 
laws  of  the  United  States,  and  are  incompatible  with  our  national 
honor. 

9.  Resolved,  That  all  attempts  to  exert  our  national  influence 
in  favor  of  the  coastwise  slave  trade,  or  to  place  this  nation  in  the 
attitude  of  maintaining  a  "  commerce  in  human  beings,"  are  sub 
versive  of  the  rights  and  injurious  to  the  feelings  of  the  free  States, 
are    unauthorized    by   the    Constitution,   and   prejudicial   to    our 
national  character. 


1 842]  ASHBURTON  TREATY  335 

No.  70.     Treaty  with  Great  Britain 

August  9,   1842 

THE  determination  of  the  northeastern  boundary  of  the  United  States, 
first  defined  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  had  been  the  subject  of  frequent  diplo 
matic  correspondence  and  international  agreements.  So  much  of  the  boun 
dary  as  had  to  do  with  the  St.  Croix  River  and  its  source  had  been  fixed  by 
commissioners  under  the  treaty  of  1794,  but  the  claims  to  the  "highlands" 
were  still  unsettled.  In  1831  the  award  of  the  king  of  the  Netherlands,  under 
the  convention  of  1827,  had  been  rejected  by  both  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States.  "In  1838-9  the  territory  between  New  Brunswick  and 
Maine,  claimed  by  both  parties,  became  the  scene  of  a  small  border  war. 
Maine  raised  an  armed  posse,  erected  forts  along  the  line  which  she  claimed 
as  the  true  one,  and  the  legislature  placed  $800,000  at  the  governor's  dis 
posal  for  the  defence  of  the  State;  an  act  of  Congress,  March  3,  1839, 
authorized  the  President  to  resist  any  attempt  of  Great  Britain  to  enforce 
exclusive  jurisdiction  over  the  disputed  territory,  and  armed  conflict  was 
only  averted  by  the  mediation  of  Gen.  Scott,  who  arranged  a  truce  and  a 
joint  occupation  by  both  parties"  (Johnston).  In  addition  to  the  question  of 
boundary,  differences  had  also  arisen  between  the  two  countries  over  the 
attempted  participation  of  Americans  in  the  Canadian  rebellion  of  1837, 
and  in  regard  to  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade.  Early  in  1842  Lord 
Ashburton  was  sent  to  the  United  States  as  special  envoy,  and  Aug.  9  the 
treaty  usually  known  by  his  name  was  concluded.  October  13  ratifications 
were  exchanged  at  London,  and  Nov.  10  the  treaty  was  proclaimed.  By  act 
of  March  3,  1843,  provision  was  made  for  carrying  the  treaty  into  effect. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  the  District  of  Colum 
bia,  etc.  (ed.  1875),  3I5~32O<  The  diplomatic  correspondence,  including  that 
with  Maine  and  New  Hampshire,  is  in  House  Exec.  Doc.  2,  27th  Cong.,  3d 
Sess.;  also  Cong.  Globe,  4-21.  The  treaty  was  adversely  criticised  in  Con 
gress  in  1846,  in  the  discussions  over  the  treaty  of  Washington;  Webster's 
speech  of  April  6  and  7  gives  a  full  account  of  the  negotiations.  The  speech 
is  in  the  Cong.  Globe,  29th  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  and  also  Webster's  Works  (ed- 
1857),  V.,  78-147.  Calhoun's  speech  on  the  treaty  is  in  his  Works  (ed. 
1854),  IV.,  212-237.  Contrasted  English  views  may  be  seen  in  the  Quarterly 
Rev.,  LXXL,  560-595,  and  Westm.  Rev.,  XXXIX.,  83-107.  See  also  Whar- 
ton's  Intern.  Law  Digest  (ed.  1887),  II.,  175-183;  Curtis's  Webster,  II., 
chap.  28;  Tyler's  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  II.,  chaps.  7,  8;  Benton's 
Thirty  Years'1  View,  II.,  chaps.  101-106;  Sparks,  in  North  Amer.  Rev.,  LVL, 
452-496;  Senate  Doc.  502,  25th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.  The  act  of  March  3,  1843, to 
carry  the  treaty  into  effect,  is  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  V.,  623. 

Whereas  certain  portions  of  the  line  of  boundary  between  the 
United  States  of  America  and  the  British  dominions  in  North 
America,  described  in  the  second  article  of  the  treaty  of  peace 
of  1783,  have  not  yet  been  ascertained  and  determined,  notwith- 


336  ASHBURTON  TREATY  [Aug.  9 

standing  the  repeated  attempts  which  have  been  heretofore  made 
for  that  purpose;  and  whereas  it  is  now  thought  to  be  for  the 
interest  of  both  parties,  that,  avoiding  further  discussion  of  their 
respective  rights,  arising  in  this  respect  under  the  said  treaty, 
they  should  agree  on  a  conventional  line  in  said  portions  of  the 
said  boundary,  such  as  may  be  convenient  to  both  parties,  with 
such  equivalents  and  compensations  as  are  deemed  just  and  rea 
sonable;  and  whereas,  by  the  treaty  concluded  at  Ghent  on  the 
24th  day  of  December,  1814,  between  the  United  States  and  His 
Britannic  Majesty,  an  article  was  agreed  to  and  inserted  of  the 
following  tenor,  vizt:  "Art.  10.  Whereas  the  traffic  in  slaves  is 
irreconcilable  with  the  principles  of  humanity  and  justice;  and 
whereas  both  His  Majesty  and  the  United  States  are  desirous  of 
continuing  their  efforts  to  promote  its  entire  abolition,  it  is 
hereby  agreed  that  both  the  contracting  parties  shall  use  their 
best  endeavors  to  accomplish  so  desirable  an  object; "  and 
whereas,  notwithstanding  the  laws  which  have  at  various  times 
been  passed  by  the  two  Governments,  and  the  efforts  made  to 
suppress  it,  that  criminal  traffic  is  still  prosecuted  and  carried 
on;  and  whereas  the  United  States  of  America  and  Her  Majesty 
the  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
are  determined  that,  so  far  as  may  be  in  their  power,  it  shall  be 
effectually  abolished;  and  whereas  it  is  found  expedient,  for  the 
better  administration  of  justice  and  the  prevention  of  crime 
within  the  territories  and  jurisdiction  of  the  two  parties  respec 
tively,  that  persons  committing  the  crimes  hereinafter  enumer 
ated,  and  being  fugitives  from  justice,  should,  under  certain 
circumstances,  be  reciprocally  delivered  up :  The  United  States 
of  America  and  Her  Britannic  Majesty,  having  resolved  to  treat 
on  these  several  subjects,  have  for  that  purpose  appointed  their 
respective  Plenipotentiaries  to  negotiate  and  conclude  a  treaty, 
that  is  to  say: 

The  President  of  the  United  States  has,  on  his  part,  furnished 
with  full  powers  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States,  and  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  has,  on  her  part,  appointed  the  Right 
Honorable  Alexander  Lord  Ashburton,  a  peer  of  the  said  United 
Kingdom,  a  member  of  Her  Majesty's  Most  Honorable  Privy 
Council,  and  Her  Majesty's  Minister  Plenipotentiary  on  a  spe 
cial  mission  to  the  United  States; 


1842]  ASHBURTON  TREATY  337 

Who,  after  a  reciprocal  communication  of  their  respective  full 
powers,  have  agreed  to  and  signed  the  following  articles : 

ARTICLE  I. 

It  is  hereby  agreed  and  declared  that  the  line  of  boundary 
shall  be  as  follows :  Beginning  at  the  monument  at  the  source  of 
the  river  St.  Croix  as  designated  and  agreed  to  by  the  Commis 
sioners  under  the  fifth  article  of  the  treaty  of  1794,  between  the 
Governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain;  thence, 
north,  following  the  exploring  line  run  and  marked  by  the  sur 
veyors  of  the  two  Governments  in  the  years  1817  and  1818,  under 
the  fifth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  to  its  intersection  with  the 
river  St.  John,  and  to  the  middle  of  the  channel  thereof;  thence, 
up  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  said  river  St.  John, 
to*  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  Francis;  thence,  up  the  middle  of 
the  channel  of  the  said  river  St.  Francis,  and  of  the  lakes  through 
which  it  flows,  to  the  outlet  of  the  Lake  Pohenagamook;  thence, 
southwesterly,  in  a  straight  line,  to  a  point  on  the  northwest 
branch  of  the  river  St.  John,  which  point  shall  be  ten  miles  dis 
tant  from  the  main  branch  of  the  St.  John,  in  a  straight  line,  and 
in  the  nearest  direction;  but  if  the  said  point  shall  be  found  to 
be  less  than  seven  miles  from  the  nearest  point  of  the  summit  or 
crest  of  the  highlands  that  divide  those  rivers  which  empty  them 
selves  into  the  river  Saint  Lawrence  from  those  which  fall  into 
the  river  Saint  John,  then  the  said  point  shall  be  made  to  recede 
down  the  said  northwest  branch  of  the  river  St.  John,  to  a  point 
seven  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  the  said  summit  or  crest; 
thence,  in  a  straight  line,  in  a  course  about  south,  eight  degrees 
west,  to  the  point  where  the  parallel  of  latitude  of  46°  25'  north 
intersects  the  southwest  branch  of  the  St.  John's;  thence,  south 
erly,  by  the  said  branch,  to  the  source  thereof  in  the  highlands  at 
the  Metjarmette  portage;  thence,  down  along  the  said  highlands 
which  divide  the  waters  which  empty  themselves  into  the  river 
Saint  Lawrence  from  those  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  to 
the  head  of  Hall's  Stream;  thence,  down  the  middle  of  said 
stream,  till  the  line  thus  run  intersects  the  old  line  of  boundary 
surveyed  and  marked  by  Valentine  and  Collins,  previously  to  the 
year  1774,  as  the  45th  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  which  has 
been  known  and  understood  to  be  the  line  of  actual  division 
between  the  States  of  New  York  and  Vermont  on  one  side,  and 


338  ASHBURTON  TREATY  [Aug.  9 

the  British  province  of  Canada  on  the  other;  and  from  said 
point  of  intersection,  west,  along  the  said  dividing  line,  as  here 
tofore  known  and  understood,  to  the  Iroquois  or  St.  Lawrence 
River. 

ARTICLE  II. 

It  is  moreover  agreed,  that  from  the  place  where  the  joint 
Commissioners  terminated  their  labors  under  the  sixth  article  of 
the  treaty  of  Ghent,  to  wit,  at  a  point  in  the  Neebish  Channel, 
near  Muddy  Lake,  the  line  shall  run  into  and  along  the  ship- 
channel  between  Saint  Joseph  and  St.  Tammany  Islands,  to  the 
division  of  the  channel  at  or  near  the  head  of  St.  Joseph's  Island; 
thence,  turning  eastwardly  and  northwardly  around  the  lower  end 
of  St.  George's  or  Sugar  Island,  and  following  the  middle  of  the 
channel  which  divides  St.  George's  from  St.  Joseph's  Island; 
thence  up  the  east  Neebish  Channel,  nearest  to  St.  George's 
Island,  through  the  middle  of  Lake  George;  thence,  west  of 
Jonas'  Island,  into  St.  Mary's  River,  to  a  point  in  the  middle  of 
that  river,  about  one  mile  above  St.  George's  or  Sugar  Island, 
so  as  to  appropriate  and  assign  the  said  island  to  the  United 
States ;  thence,  adopting  the  line  traced  on  the  maps  by  the 
Commissioners,  thro'  the  river  St.  Mary  and  Lake  Superior,  to  a 
point  north  of  He  Royale,  in  said  lake,  one  hundred  yards  to  the 
north  and  east  of  He  Chapeau,  which  last-mentioned  island  lies 
near  the  northeastern  point  of  lie  Royale,  where  the  line  marked 
by  the  Commissioners  terminates ;  and  from  the  last-mentioned 
point,  southwesterly,  through  the  middle  of  the  sound  between  He 
Royale  and  the  northwestern  main  land,  to  the  mouth  of  Pigeon 
River,  and  up  the  said  river,  to  and  through  the  north  and  south 
Fowl  Lakes,  to  the  lakes  of  the  height  of  land  between  Lake 
Superior  and  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  ;  thence,  along  the  water  com 
munication  to  Lake  Saisaginaga,  and  through  that  lake  ;  thence, 
to  and  through  Cypress  Lake,  Lac  du  Bois  Blanc,  Lac  la  Croix, 
Little  Vermilion  Lake,  and  Lake  Namecan  and  through  the  several 
smaller  lakes,  straits,  or  streams,  connecting  the  lakes  here  men 
tioned,  to  that  point  in  Lac  la  Pluie,  or  Rainy  Lake,  at  the 
Chaudiere  Falls,  from  which  the  Commissioners  traced  the  line 
to  the  most  northwestern  point  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  ;  thence, 
along  the  said  line,  to  the  said  most  northwestern  point,  being 
in  latitude  49°  23'  55"  north,  and  in  longitude  95°  14'  38"  west 


1 842]  ASHBURTON  TREATY  339 

from  the  observatory  at  Greenwich ;  thence,  according  to  existing 
treaties,  due  south  to  its  intersection  with  the  4pth  parallel  of 
north  latitude,  and  along  that  parallel  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
It  being  understood  that  all  the  water  communications  and  all  the 
usual  portages  along  the  line  from  Lake  Superior  to  the  Lake 
of  the  Woods,  and  also  Grand  Portage,  from  the  shore  of  Lake 
Superior  to  the  Pigeon  River,  as  now  actually  used,  shall  be  free 
and  open  to  the  use  of  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  both  countries. 

ARTICLE  III. 

In  order  to  promote  the  interests  and  encourage  the  industry 
of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  countries  watered  by  the  river  St. 
John  and  its  tributaries,  whether  living  within  the  State  of  Maine 
or  the  province  of  New  Brunswick,  it  is  agreed  that,  where,  by 
the  provisions  of  the  present  treaty,  the  river  St.  John  is  declared 
to  be  the  line  of  boundary,  the  navigation  of  the  said  river  shall 
be  free  and  open  to  both  parties,  and  shall  in  no  way  be  obstructed 
by  either ;  that  all  the  produce  of  the  forest,  in  logs,  lumber, 
timber,  boards,  staves,  or  shingles,  or  of  agriculture,  not  being 
manufactured,  grown  on  any  of  those  parts  of  the  State  of  Maine 
watered  by  the  river  St.  John,  or  by  its  tributaries,  of  which  fact 
reasonable  evidence  shall,  if  required,  be  produced,  shall  have 
free  access  into  and  through  the  said  river  and  its  said  tributaries, 
having  their  source  within  the  State  of  Maine,  to  and  from  the 
sea-port  at  the  mouth  of  the  said  river  St.  John's,  and  to  and 
round  the  falls  of  the  said  river,  either  by  boats,  rafts,  or  other 
conveyance ;  that  when  within  the  province  of  New  Brunswick, 
the  said  produce  shall  be  dealt  with  as  if  it  were  the  produce 
of  the  said  province ;  that,  in  like  manner,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
territory  of  the  upper  St.  John,  determined  by  this  treaty  to 
belong  to  Her  Britannic  Majesty,  shall  have  free  access  to  and 
through  the  river,  for  their  produce,  in  those  parts  where  the  said 
river  runs  wholly  through  the  State  of  Maine  :  Provided,  always, 
that  this  agreement  shall  give  no  right  to  either  party  to  interfere 
with  any  regulations  not  inconsistent  with  the  terms  of  this  treaty 
which  the  governments,  respectively,  of  Maine  or  of  New  Bruns 
wick  may  make  respecting  the  navigation  of  the  said  river,  where 
both  banks  thereof  shall  belong  to  the  same  party. 


340  ASHBURTON  TREATY  [Aug.  9 


ARTICLE  IV. 

All  grants  of  land  heretofore  made  by  either  party,  within  the 
limits  of  the  territory  which  by  this  treaty  falls  within  the  domin 
ions  of  the  other  party,  shall  be  held  valid,  ratified,  and  confirmed 
to  the  persons  in  possession  under  such  grants,  to  the  same  extent 
as  if  such  territory  had  by  this  treaty  fallen  within  the  dominions 
of  the  party  by  whom  such  grants  were  made  ;  and  all  equitable 
possessory  claims,  arising  from  a  possession  and  improvement  of 
any  lot  or  parcel  of  land  by  the  person  actually  in  possession,  or 
by  those  under  whom  such  person  claims,  for  more  than  six  years 
before  the  date  of  this  treaty,  shall,  in  like  manner,  be  deemed 
valid,  and  be  confirmed  and  quieted  by  a  release  to  the  person 
entitled  thereto,  of  the  title  to  such  lot  or  parcel  of  land,  so 
described  as  best  to  include  the  improvements  made  thereon ; 
and  in  all  other  respects  the  two  contracting  parties  agree  to  deal 
upon  the  most  liberal  principles  of  equity  with  the  settlers  actually 
dwelling  upon  the  territory  falling  to  them,  respectively,  which  has 
heretofore  been  in  dispute  between  them. 

ARTICLE  V. 

Whereas  in  the  course  of  the  controversy  respecting  the  disputed 
territory  on  the  northeastern  boundary,  some  moneys  have  been 
received  by  the  authorities  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  province 
of  New  Brunswick,  with  the  intention  of  preventing  depredations 
on  the  forests  of  the  said  territory,  which  moneys  were  to  be 
carried  to  a  fund  called  the  "disputed  territory  fund,"  the  proceeds 
whereof  it  was  agreed  should  be  hereafter  paid  over  to  the  parties 
interested,  in  the  proportions  to  be  determined  by  a  final  settle 
ment  of  boundaries,  it  is  hereby  agreed  that  a  correct  account  of 
all  receipts  and  payments  on  the  said  fund  shall  be  delivered  to 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  within  six  months  after  the 
ratification  of  this  treaty ;  and  the  proportion  of  the  amount  due 
thereon  to  the  States  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts,  and  any  bonds 
or  securities  appertaining  thereto  shall  be  paid  and  delivered  over 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  agrees  to  receive  for  the  use  of,  and  pay  over 
to,  the  States  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts,  their  respective  por 
tions  of  said  fund,  and  further,  to  pay  and  satisfy  said  States, 


1842]  ASHBURTON  TREATY  341 

respectively,  for  all  claims  for  expenses  incurred  by  them  in  pro 
tecting  the  said  heretofore  disputed  territory  and  making  a  survey 
thereof  in  1838;  the  Government  of  the  United  States  agreeing 
with  the  States  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts  to  pay  them  the 
further  sum  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  in  equal  moieties, 
on  account  of  their  assent  to  the  line  of  boundary  described  in 
this  treaty,  and  in  consideration  of  the  conditions  and  equivalents 
received  therefor  from  the  Government  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty. 
[Art.  VI.  provides  for  the  appointment  of  two  commissioners  to 
mark  the  boundary  between  the  St.  Croix  and  the  St.  Lawrence.] 

ARTICLE  VII. 

It  is  further  agreed  that  the  channels  in  the  river  St.  Lawrence 
on  both  sides  of  the  Long  Sault  Islands  and  of  Barnhart  Island, 
the  channels  in  the  river  Detroit  on  both  sides  of  the  island  Bois 
Blanc,  and  between  that  island  and  both  the  American  and  Cana 
dian  shores,  and  all  the  several  channels  and  passages  between  the 
various  islands  lying  near  the  junction  of  the  river  St.  Clair  with 
the  lake  of  that  name,  shall  be  equally  free  and  open  to  the  ships, 
vessels,  and  boats  of  both  parties. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  parties  mutually  stipulate  that  each  shall  prepare,  equip, 
and  maintain  in  service  on  the  coast  of  Africa  a  sufficient  and 
adequate  squadron  or  naval  force  of  vessels  of  suitable  numbers 
and  descriptions,  to  carry  in  all  not  less  than  eighty  guns,  to 
enforce,  separately  and  respectively,  the  laws,  rights,  and  obliga 
tions  of  each  of  the  two  countries  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave- 
trade,  the  said  squadrons  to  be  independent  of  each  other,  but 
the  two  Governments  stipulating,  nevertheless,  to  give  such  orders 
to  the  officers  commanding  their  respective  forces  as  shall  enable 
them  most  effectually  to  act  in  concert  and  co-operation,  upon 
mutual  consultation,  as  exigencies  may  arise,  for  the  attainment 
of  the  true  object  of  this  article,  copies  of  all  such  orders  to  be 
communicated  by  each  Government  to  the  other,  respectively. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

Whereas,  notwithstanding  all  efforts  which  may  be  made  on  the 
coast  of  Africa  for  suppressing  the  slave-trade,  the  facilities  for 


342  ASHBURTON  TREATY  [Aug.  9 

carrying  on  that  traffic  and  avoiding  the  vigilance  of  cruisers,  by 
the  fraudulent  use  of  flags  and  other  means,  are  so  great,  and  the 
temptations  for  pursuing  it,  while  a  market  can  be  found  for  slaves, 
so  strong,  as  that  the  desired  result  may  be  long  delayed  unless 
all  markets  be  shut  against  the  purchase  of  African  negroes,  the 
parties  to  this  treaty  agree  that  they  will  unite  in  all  becoming 
representations  and  remonstrances  with  any  and  all  Powers  within 
whose  dominions  such  markets  are  allowed  to  exist,  and  that  they 
will  urge  upon  all  such  Powers  the  propriety  and  duty  of  closing 
such  markets  effectually,  at  once  and  forever. 

ARTICLE  X. 

It  is  agreed  that  the  United  States  and  Her  Britannic  Majesty 
shall,  upon  mutual  requisitions  by  them,  or  their  Ministers,  officers, 
or  authorities,  respectively  made,  deliver  up  to  justice  all  persons 
who,  being  charged  with  the  crime  of  murder,  or  assault  with 
intent  to  commit  murder,  or  piracy,  or  arson,  or  robbery,  or 
forgery,  or  the  utterance  of  forged  paper,  committed  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  either,  shall  seek  an  asylum  or  shall  be  found  within 
the  territories  of  the  other  :  Provided,  that  this  shall  only  be  done 
upon  such  evidence  of  criminality  as,  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
place  where  the  fugitive  or  person  so  charged  shall  be  found, 
would  justify  his  apprehension  and  commitment  for  trial  if  the 
crime  or  offence  had  there  been  committed ;  and  the  respective 
judges  and  other  magistrates  of  the  two  Governments  shall  have 
power,  jurisdiction,  and  authority,  upon  complaint  made  under 
oath,  to  issue  a  warrant  for  the  apprehension  of  the  fugitive  or 
person  so  charged,  that  he  may  be  brought  before  such  judges  or 
other  magistrates,  respectively,  to  the  end  that  the  evidence  of 
criminality  may  be  heard  and  considered  ;  and  if,  on  such  hearing, 
the  evidence  be  deemed  sufficient  to  sustain  the  charge,  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  examining  judge  or  magistrate  to  certify  the 
same  to  the  proper  executive  authority,  that  a  warrant  may  issue 
for  the  surrender  of  such  fugitive.  The  expense  of  such  appre 
hension  and  delivery  shall  be  borne  and  defrayed  by  the  party 
who  makes  the  requisition  and  receives  the  fugitive. 

ARTICLE  XL 

The  eighth  article  of  this  treaty  shall  be  in  force  for  five  years 
from  the  date  of  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications,  and  afterwards 


X842]  ANNEXATION   OF  TEXAS  343 

until  one  or  the  other  party  shall  signify  a  wish  to  terminate  it. 
The  tenth  article  shall  continue  in  force  until  one  or  the  other  of 
the  parties  shall  signify  its  wish  to  terminate  it,  and  no  longer. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

The  present  treaty  shall  be  duly  ratified,  and  the  mutual  ex 
change  of  ratifications  shall  take  place  in  London,  within  six  months 
from  the  date  hereof,  or  earlier  if  possible. 

In  faith  whereof  we,  the  respective  Plenipotentiaries,  have  signed 
this  treaty  and  have  hereunto  affixed  our  seals. 

Done  in  duplicate  at  Washington,  the  ninth  day  of  August,  anno 
Domini  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-two. 

DANL.  WEBSTER.  [L.S.] 
ASHBURTON.          [L.S.] 


No.  71.     Joint  Resolution   for  the   Annexation 

of  Texas 

March  i,   1845 

IN  1821  the  United  States  of  Mexico,  until  then  a  part  of  the  Spanish  pos 
sessions  in  America,  became  independent.  The  provinces  of  Cohahuiia  and 
Texas  were  united  as  a  State,  and  in  1827  formed  a  constitution.  In  1835 
the  State  declared  its  independence  of  Mexico,  and  in  1836  proclaimed  itself 
the  Republic  of  Texas.  The  independence  of  Texas  was  acknowledged  in 
1837  ^7  tne  United  States,  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Belgium,  but  not  by 
Mexico;  and  in  1838  a  treaty  for  marking  the  boundary  between  Texas  and 
the  United  States  was  concluded  at  Washington.  As  early  as  1821  attempts 
had  been  made  by  Americans  from  the  southern  States  to  gain  a  foothold  in 
Texas;  but  propositions  by  the  United  States  in  1827  and  1829  to  purchase 
Texas  were  not  accepted,  and  in  1830  "orders  were  issued  to  prevent  any 
further  emigration  from  the  United  States."  P>om  1843  onward  annexation 
became  a  prominent  question,  advocated  chiefly  in  the  South.  In  1844,  how 
ever,  both  Van  Buren  and  Clay,  respectively,  the  leading  Democratic  and 
Whig  candidates  for  the  presidency,  declared  against  it,  and  a  treaty  for 
annexation,  concluded  April  12,  1844,  was  rejected  by  the  Senate.  The  elec 
tion  of  Polk  was  regarded  as  a  victory  for  the  annexation  policy.  Decem 
ber  12,  1844,  Ingersoll  of  Pennsylvania,  chairman  of  the  House  Committee  on 
P'oreign  Affairs,  reported  a  joint  resolution  for  annexation,  which  passed  the 
House  Jan.  25,  by  a  vote  of  120  to  98.  February  4,  in  the  Senate,  Archer  of 
Virginia,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  had 
been  referred  the  resolution  of  the  House,  together  with  several  similar 
propositions  originating  in  the  Senate,  made  a  report  recommending  the 


344  ANNEXATION   OF  TEXAS  [March  I 

rejection  of  the  House  resolution.  The  resolution  was,  however,  taken  up 
by  the  Senate  Feb.  13,  and  considered  daily  until  the  27th,  when  it  passed, 
in  an  amended  form,  without  a  division,  the  vote  on  the  third  reading  being 
27  to  25.  On  the  28th,  by  a  vote  of  134  to  77,  the  House  concurred  in  the 
Senate  amendments,  and  March  I  the  resolution  was  approved.  The  terms 
proposed  were  agreed  to  by  the  Congress  of  Texas  June  18,  and  by  a  con 
vention  at  Austin  July  4.  A  State  constitution  was  ratified  Oct.  13,  by  popu 
lar  vote,  and  by  joint  resolution  of  Dec.  29  Texas  was  admitted  as  a  State. 
The  area  acquired  by  the  annexation  was  371,063  square  miles. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  V.,  797,  798.  For  the  pro 
ceedings  of  Congress,  see  the  House  and  Senate  Journals,  28th  Cong.,  2d 
Sess.;  for  the  debates,  see  the  Cong.  Globe,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XV. 
For  the  diplomatic  correspondence,  etc.,  see  Senate  Doc.  /,  13  and  jo,  28th 
Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  and  Senate  Doc.  i,  29th  Cong.,  1st  Sess.  Archer's  report 
is  Senate  Doc.  79,  28th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.  Important  general  references  are : 
Von  Hoist's  United  States,  II.,  chap.  7;  III.,  chap.  3;  Curtis's  Buchanan, 
I.,  chap.  19;  Greeley's  American  Conflict,  I.,  chap.  12 ;  Wilson's  Slave 
Power,  I.,  chaps.  42,  43,  45;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  I.,  chaps.  144, 
145;  II.,  chaps.  24,  135,  138-142,  148;  Tyler's  Letters  and  Times  of  the 
Tylers,  II.,  chaps.  9-12;  Johnston,  in  Lalor*s  Cyclopaedia,  I.,  96-98;  Pierce's 
Sumner,  III.,  98-106;  Webster's  Works  (ed.  1857),  V.,  55-59;  Wm.  Lloyd 
Garrison:  Story  of  his  Life  told  by  his  Children,  III.,  chap.  5. 

Joint  Resolution  for  annexing  Texas  to  the   United  States. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  Congress 
doth  consent  that  the  territory  properly  included  within,  and 
rightfully  belonging  to  the  Republic  of  Texas,  may  be  erected 
into  a  new  State,  to  be  called  the  State  of  Texas,  with  a  republi 
can  form  of  government,  to  be  adopted  by  the  people  of  said 
republic,  by  deputies  in  convention  assembled,  with  the  consent 
of  the  existing  government,  in  order  that  the  same  may  be  ad 
mitted  as  one  of  the  States  of  this  Union. 

2.  And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  foregoing  consent  of 
Congress  is  given  upon  the  following  conditions,  and  with  the 
following  guarantees,  to  wit :  First,  Said  State  to  be  formed,  sub 
ject  to  the  adjustment  by  this  government  of  all  questions  of 
boundary  that  may  arise  with  other  governments ;  and  the  con 
stitution  thereof,  with  the  proper  evidence  of  its  adoption  by  the 
people  of  said  Republic  of  Texas,  shall  be  transmitted  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  to  be  laid  before  Congress  for  its 
final  action,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-six.  Second.  Said  State,  when  admitted 


1 845]  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS  345 

into  the  Union,  after  ceding  to  the  United  States,  all  public  edi 
fices,  fortifications,  barracks,  ports  and  harbors,  navy  and  navy- 
yards,  docks,  magazines,  arms,  armaments,  and  all  other  property 
and  means  pertaining  to  the  public  defence  belonging  to  said 
Republic  of  Texas,  shall  retain  all  the  public  funds,  debts,  taxes, 
and  dues  of  every  kind,  which  may  belong  to  or  be  due  and  owing 
said  republic ;  and  shall  also  retain  all  the  vacant  and  unappropri 
ated  lands  lying  within  its  limits,  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of 
the  debts  and  liabilities  of  said  Republic  of  Texas,  and  the  residue 
of  said  lands,  after  discharging  said  debts  and  liabilities,  to  be  dis 
posed  of  as  said  State  may  direct ;  but  in  no  event  are  said  debts 
and  liabilities  to  become  a  charge  upon  the  Government  of  the 
United  States.  Third.  New  States,  of  convenient  size,  not  exceed 
ing  four  in  number,  in  addition  to  said  State  of  Texas,  and  having 
sufficient  population,  may  hereafter,  by  the  consent  of  said  State, 
be  formed  out  of  the  territory  thereof,  which  shall  be  entitled  to 
admission  under  the  provisions  of  the  federal  constitution.  And 
such  States  as  may  be  formed  out  of  that  portion  of  said  territory 
lying  south  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes  north  latitude, 
commonly  known  as  the  Missouri  compromise  line,  shall  be 
admitted  into  the  Union  with  or  without  slavery,  as  the  people  of 
each  State  asking  admission  may  desire.  And  in  such  State  or 
States  as  shall  be  formed  out  of  said  territory  north  of  said  Missouri 
compromise  line,  slavery,  or  involuntary  servitude,  (except  for 
crime,)  shall  be  prohibited. 

3.  And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  if  the  President  of  the 
United  States  shall  in  his  judgment  and  discretion  deem  it  most 
advisable,  instead  of  proceeding  to  submit  the  foregoing  resolution 
to  the  Republic  of  Texas,  as  an  overture  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  for  admission,  to  negotiate  with  that  Republic  ;  then, 

Be  it  resolved,  That  a  State,  to  be  formed  out  of  the  present 
Republic  of  Texas,  with  suitable  extent  and  boundaries,  and  with 
two  representatives  in  Congress,  until  the  next  apportionment  of 
representation,  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union,  by  virtue  of  this 
act,  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  existing  States,  as  soon  as  the 
terms  and  conditions  of  such  admission,  and  the  cession  of  the 
remaining  Texian  territory  to  the  United  States  shall  be  agreed 
upon  by  the  Governments  of  Texas  and  the  United  States  :  And 
that  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  be,  and  the  same 
is  hereby,  appropriated  to  defray  the  expenses  of  missions  and 


346  FOLK'S   WAR   MESSAGE  [May  II 

negotiations,  to  agree  upon  the  terms  of  said  admission  and  ces 
sion,  either  by  treaty  to  be  submitted  to  the  Senate,  or  by  articles 
to  be  submitted  to  the  two  houses  of  Congress,  as  the  President 
may  direct. 


No.   72.     Folk's  War  Message 

May  n,   1846 

MARCH  6,  1845,  Mexico  entered  a  formal  protest  against  the  joint  resolution 
for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  shortly  afterwards  diplomatic  intercourse 
between  Mexico  and  the  United  States  was  suspended.  Both  parties  pre 
pared  for  war.  The  condition  of  affairs  was  reviewed  at  length  in  Folk's 
annual  message  of  Dec.  2,  1845,  wmle  the  diplomatic  and  military  manoeuvres 
which  paved  the  way  for  the  special  message  of  May  n,  1846,  are  set  forth 
in  the  message  itself. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  House  and  Senate  Journals,  29th  Cong.,  ist  Sess., 
the  text  here  given  being  that  of  the  Senate  journal.  An  interesting  account 
of  the  circumstances  under  which  the  message  was  written  is  given  by  Schouler, 
in  Atlantic  Monthly,  LXXVL,  375,  376;  id.%  Hist.  Briefs,  149-151. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

THE  existing  state  of  the  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico  renders  it  proper  that  I  should  bring  the  subject  to 
the  consideration  of  Congress.  In  my  message  at  the  commence 
ment  of  your  present  session,  the  state  of  these  relations,  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  suspension  of  diplomatic  intercourse 
between  the  two  countries  in  March,  1845,  and  the  long-continued 
and  unredressed  wrongs  and  injuries  committed  by  the  Mexican 
government  on  citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  their  persons  and 
property,  were  briefly  set  forth. 

As  the  facts  and  opinions  which  were  then  laid  before  you  were 
carefully  considered,  I  can  not  better  express  my  present  convic 
tions  of  the  condition  of  affairs  up  to  that  time,  than  by  referring 
you  to  that  communication. 

The  strong  desire  to  establish  peace  with  Mexico  on  liberal  and 
honorable  terms,  and  the  readiness  of  this  government  to  regulate 
and  adjust  our  boundary,  and  other  causes  of  difference  with  that 
power,  on  such  fair  and  equitable  principles  as  would  lead  to 
permanent  relations  of  the  most  friendly  nature,  induced  me  in 
September  last  to  seek  the  reopening  of  diplomatic  relations 
between  the  two  countries.  Every  measure'  adopted  on  our  part 


1846]  FOLK'S   WAR  MESSAGE  347 

had  for  its  object  the  furtherance  of  these  desired  results.  In 
communicating  to  Congress  a  succinct  statement  of  the  injuries 
which  we  had  suffered  from  Mexico,  and  which  have  been  accu 
mulating  during  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years,  every  expres 
sion  that  could  tend  to  inflame  the  people  of  Mexico,  or  defeat  or 
delay  a  pacific  result,  was  carefully  avoided.  An  envoy  of  the 
United  States  repaired  to  Mexico,  with  full  powers  to  adjust  every 
existing  difference.  But  though  present  on  the  Mexican  soil, 
by  agreement  between  the  two  governments,  invested  with  full 
powers,  and  bearing  evidence  of  the  most  friendly  dispositions, 
his  mission  has  been  unavailing.  The  Mexican  government  not 
only  refused  to  receive  him,  or  listen  to  his  propositions,  but, 
after  a  long-continued  series  of  menaces,  have  at  last  invaded  our 
territory,  and  shed  the  blood  of  our  fellow-citizens  on  our  own 
soil. 

It  now  becomes  my  duty  to  state  more  in  detail  the  origin, 
progress,  and  failure  of  that  mission.  In  pursuance  of  the  instruc 
tions  given  in  September  last,  an  inquiry  was  made,  on  the  i3th  of 
October,  1845,  in  the  most  friendly  terms,  through  our  consul  in 
Mexico,  of  the  minister  for  foreign  affairs,  whether  the  Mexican 
government  "  would  receive  an  envoy  from  the  United  States 
intrusted  with  full  powers  to  adjust  all  the  questions  in  dispute 
between  the  two  governments  ;  "  with  the  assurance  that  "  should 
the  answer  be  in  the  affirmative,  such  an  envoy  would  be  immedi 
ately  despatched  to  Mexico."  The  Mexican  minister,  on  the 
1 5th  of  October,  gave  an  affirmative  answer  to  this  inquiry,  re 
questing,  at  the  same  time,  that  our  naval  force  at  Vera  Cruz 
might  be  withdrawn,  lest  its  continued  presence  might  assume 
the  appearance  of  menace  and  coercion  pending  the  negotiations. 
This  force  was  immediately  withdrawn.  On  the  loth  of  Novem 
ber,  1845,  Mr.  John  Slidell,  of  Louisiana,  was  commissioned  by 
me  as  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the 
United  States  to  Mexico,  and  was  intrusted  with  full  powers  to 
adjust  both  the  questions  of  the  Texas  boundary  and  of  indemnifi 
cation  to  our  citizens.  The  redress  of  the  wrongs  of  our  citizens 
naturally  and  inseparably  blended  itself  with  the  question  of 
boundary.  The  settlement  of  the  one  question,  in  any  correct 
view  of  the  subject,  involves  that  of  the  other.  I  could  not,  for  a 
moment,  entertain  the  idea  that  the  claims  of  our  much  injured 
and  long  suffering  citizens,  many  of  which  had  existed  for  more 


348  FOLK'S   WAR   MESSAGE  [May  u 

than  twenty  years,  should  be  postponed,  or  separated  from  the 
settlement  of  the  boundary  question. 

Mr.  Slidell  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  on  the  3Oth  of  November,  and 
was  courteously  received  by  the  authorities  of  that  city.  But  the 
government  of  General  Herrera  was  then  tottering  to  its  fall.  The 
revolutionary  party  had  seized  upon  the  Texas  question  to  effect 
or  hasten  its  overthrow.  Its  determination  to  restore  friendly 
relations  with  the  United  States,  and  to  receive  our  minister,  to 
negotiate  for  the  settlement  of  this  question,  was  violently  assailed, 
and  was  made  the  great  theme  of  denunciation  against  it.  The 
government  of  General  Herrera,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe, 
was  sincerely  desirous  to  receive  our  minister ;  but  it  yielded  to 
the  storm  raised  by  its  enemies,  and  on  the  2ist  of  December 
refused  to  accredit  Mr.  Slidell  upon  the  most  frivolous  pretexts. 
These  are  so  fully  and  ably  exposed  in  the  note  of  Mr.  Slidell,  of 
the  24th  of  December  last,  to  the  Mexican  minister  of  foreign 
relations,  herewith  transmitted,  that  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to 
enter  into  further  detail  on  this  portion  of  the  subject. 

Five  days  after  the  date  of  Mr.  SlidelPs  note,  General  Herrera 
yielded  the  government  to  General  Paredes,  without  a  struggle, 
and  on  the  30th  of  December  resigned  the  presidency.  This 
revolution  was  accomplished  solely  by  the  army,  the  people  having 
taken  little  part  in  the  contest ;  and  thus  the  supreme  power  of 
Mexico  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  military  leader. 

Determined  to  leave  no  effort  untried  to  effect  an  amicable 
adjustment  with  Mexico,  I  directed  Mr.  Slidell  to  present  his 
credentials  to  the  government  of  General  Paredes,  and  ask  to  be 
officially  received  by  him.  There  would  have  been  less  ground 
for  taking  this  step  had  General  Paredes  come  into  power  by  a 
regular  constitutional  succession.  In  that  event  his  administra 
tion  would  have  been  considered  but  a  mere  constitutional  con 
tinuance  of  the  government  of  General  Herrera,  and  the  refusal  of 
the  latter  to  receive  our  minister  would  have  been  deemed  con 
clusive,  unless  an  intimation  had  been  given  by  General  Paredes 
of  his  desire  to  reverse  the  decision  of  his  predecessor.  But 
the  government  of  General  Paredes  owes  its  existence  to  a 
military  revolution,  by  which  the  subsisting  constitutional  authori 
ties  had  been  subverted.  The  form  of  government  was  entirely 
changed,  as  well  as  all  the  high  functionaries  by  whom  it  was 
administered. 


1846]  FOLK'S  WAR  MESSAGE  349 

Under  these  circumstances,  Mr.  Slidell,  in  obedience  to  my 
direction,  addressed  a  note  to  the  Mexican  minister  of  foreign 
relations,  under  date  of  the  ist  of  March  last,  asking  to  be  re 
ceived  by  that  government  in  the  diplomatic  character  to  which 
he  had  been  appointed.  This  minister,  in  his  reply  under  date  of 
the  1 2th  of  March,  reiterated  the  arguments  of  his  predecessor, 
and,  in  terms  that  may  be  considered  as  giving  just  grounds  of 
offence  to  the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States,  denied 
the  application  of  Mr.  Slidell.  Nothing,  therefore,  remained  for 
our  envoy  but  to  demand  his  passports,  and  return  to  his  own 
country. 

Thus  the  government  of  Mexico,  though  solemnly  pledged  by 
official  acts  in  October  last  to  receive  and  accredit  an  American 
envoy,  violated  their  plighted  faith,  and  refused  the  offer  of  a 
peaceful  adjustment  of  our  difficulties.  Not  only  was  the  offer 
rejected,  but  the  indignity  of  its  rejection  was  enhanced  by  the 
manifest  breach  of  faith  in  refusing  to  admit  the  envoy,  who  came 
because  they  had  bound  themselves  to  receive  him.  Nor  can  it 
be  said  that  the  offer  was  fruitless  from  the  want  of  opportunity  of 
discussing  it :  our  envoy  was  present  on  their  own  soil.  Nor  can 
it  be  ascribed  to  a  want  of  sufficient  powers  :  our  envoy  had  full 
powers  to  adjust  every  question  of  difference.  Nor  was  there 
room  for  complaint  that  our  propositions  for  settlement  were 
unreasonable  :  permission  was  not  even  given  our  envoy  to  make 
any  proposition  whatever.  Nor  can  it  be  objected  that  we,  on 
our  part,  would  not  listen  to  any  reasonable  terms  of  their  sugges 
tion  :  the  Mexican  government  refused  all  negotiation,  and  have 
made  no  proposition  of  any  kind. 

In  my  message  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  session,  I 
informed  you  that,  upon  the  earnest  appeal  both  of  the  congress 
and  convention  of  Texas,  I  had  ordered  an  efficient  military  force 
to  take  a  position  "between  the  Nueces  and  the  Del  Norte." 
This  had  become  necessary,  to  meet  a  threatened  invasion  of 
Texas  by  the  Mexican  forces,  for  which  extensive  military  prepa 
rations  had  been  made.  The  invasion  was  threatened  solely 
because  Texas  had  determined,  in  accordance  with  a  solemn 
resolution  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  to  annex  herself 
to  our  Union ;  and,  under  these  circumstances,  it  was  plainly  our 
duty  to  extend  our  protection  over  her  citizens  and  soil. 

This  force  was  concentrated  at  Corpus  Christi,  and  remained 


350  FOLK'S   WAR  MESSAGE  [May  u 

there  until  after  I  had  received  such  information  from  Mexico  as 
rendered  it  probable,  if  not  certain,  that  the  Mexican  government 
would  refuse  to  receive  our  envoy. 

Meantime  Texas,  by  the  final  action  of  our  Congress,  had 
become  an  integral  part  of  our  Union.  The  Congress  of  Texas, 
by  its  act  of  December  19,  1836,  had  declared  the  Rio  del  Norte 
to  be  the  boundary  of  that  republic.  Its  jurisdiction  had  been 
extended  and  exercised  beyond  the  Nueces.  The  country  be 
tween  that  river  and  the  Del  Norte  had  been  represented  in  the 
congress  and  in  the  convention  of  Texas  ;  had  thus  taken  part  in 
the  act  of  annexation  itself;  and  is  now  included  within  one  of  our 
congressional  districts.  Our  own  Congress  had;  moreover,  with 
great  unanimity,  by  the  act  approved  December  31,  1845,  recog 
nised  the,  country  beyond  the  Nueces  as  a  part  of  our  territory, 
by  including  it  within  our  own  revenue  system ;  and  a  revenue 
officer,  to  reside  within  that  district,  has  been  appointed,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  senate.  It  became,  therefore, 
of  urgent  necessity  to  provide  for  the  defence  of  that  portion  of 
our  country.  Accordingly,  on  the  i3th  of  January  last,  instruc 
tions  were  issued  to  the  general  in  command  of  these  troops  to 
occupy  the  left  bank  of  the  Del  Norte.  This  river,  which  is  the 
southwestern  boundary  of  the  state  of  Texas,  is  an  exposed  fron 
tier  ;  from  this  quarter  invasion  was  threatened ;  upon  it,  and  in 
its  immediate  vicinity,  in  the  judgment  of  high  military  experi 
ence,  are  the  proper  stations  for  the  protecting  forces  of  the  gov 
ernment.  In  addition  to  this  important  consideration,  several 
others  occurred  to  induce  this  movement.  Among  these  are 
the  facilities  afforded  by  the  ports  at  Brazos  Santiago  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Del  Norte,  for  the  reception  of  supplies  by  sea  ;  the 
stronger  and  more  healthful  military  positions ;  the  convenience 
for  obtaining  a  ready  and  a  more  abundant  supply  of  provi 
sions,  water,  fuel,  and  forage ;  and  the  advantages  which  are 
afforded  by  the  Del  Norte  in  forwarding  supplies  to  such  posts 
as  may  be  established  in  the  interior  and  upon  the  Indian 
frontier. 

The  movement  of  the  troops  to  the  Del  Norte  was  made  by  the 
commanding  general,  under  positive  instructions  to  abstain  from 
all  aggressive  acts  toward  Mexico  or  Mexican  citizens,  and  to 
regard  the  relations  between  that  republic  and  the  United  States 
as  peaceful,  unless  she  should  declare  war,  or  commit  acts  of 


1846]  FOLK'S  WAR  MESSAGE  351 

hostility  indicative  of  a  state  of  war.  He  was  specially  directed 
to  protect  private  property,  and  respect  personal  rights. 

The  army  moved  from  Corpus  Christi  on  the  nth  of  March, 
and  on  the  28th  of  that  month  arrived  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Del  Norte,  opposite  to  Matamoras,  where  it  encamped  on  a 
commanding  position,  which  has  since  been  strengthened  by  the 
erection  of  field  works.  A  depot  has  also  been  established  at 
Point  Isabel,  near  the  Brazos  Santiago,  thirty  miles  in  rear  of  the 
encampment.  The  selection  of  his  position  was  necessarily  con 
fided  to  the  judgment  of  the  general  in  command. 

The  Mexican  forces  at  Matamoras  assumed  a  belligerent  atti 
tude,  and,  on  the  i2th  of  April,  General  Ampudia,  then  in  com 
mand,  notified  General  Taylor  to  break  up  his  camp  within 
twenty-four  hours,  and  to  retire  beyond  the  Nueces  river,  and,  in 
the  event  of  his  failure  to  comply  with  these  demands,  announced 
that  arms,  and  arms  alone,  must  decide  the  question.  But  no 
open  act  of  hostility  was  committed  until  the  24th  of  April.  On 
that  day,  General  Arista,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  command  of 
the  Mexican  forces,  communicated  to  General  Taylor  that  "  he 
considered  hostilities  commenced,  and  should  prosecute  them." 
A  party  of  dragoons,  of  sixty-three  men  and  officers,  were  on  the 
same  day  despatched  from  the  American  camp  up  the  Rio  del 
Norte,  on  its  left  bank,  to  ascertain  whether  the  Mexican  troops 
had  crossed,  or  were  preparing  to  cross,  the  river,  "  became  en 
gaged  with  a  large  body  of  these  troops,  and,  after  a  short  affair, 
in  which  some  sixteen  were  killed  and  wounded,  appear  to  have 
been  surrounded  and  compelled  to  surrender." 

The  grievous  wrongs  perpetrated  by  Mexico  upon  our  citizens 
throughout  a  long  period  of  years  remain  unredressed  ;  and  solemn 
treaties,  pledging  her  public  faith  for  this  redress,  have  been  dis 
regarded.  A  government  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  enforce 
the  execution  of  such  treaties,  fails  to  perform  one  of  its  plainest 
duties. 

Our  commerce  with  Mexico  has  been  almost  annihilated.  It 
was  formerly  highly  beneficial  to  both  nations  ;  but  our  merchants 
have  been  deterred  from  prosecuting  it  by  the  system  of  outrage 
and  extortion  which  the  Mexican  authorities  have  pursued  against 
them,  whilst  their  appeals  through  their  own  government  for 
indemnity  have  been  made  in  vain.  Our  forbearance  has  gone 
to  such  an  extreme  as  to  be  mistaken  in  its  character.  Had  we 


352  FOLK'S   WAR   MESSAGE  [May  11 

acted  with  vigor  in  repelling  the  insults  and  redressing  the  injuries 
inflicted  by  Mexico  at  the  commencement,  we  should  doubtless 
have  escaped  all  the  difficulties  in  which  we  are  now  involved. 

Instead  of  this,  however,  we  have  been  exerting  our  best  efforts 
to  propitiate  her  good-will.  Upon  the  pretext  that  Texas,  a  nation 
as  independent  as  herself,  thought  proper  to  unite  its  destinies 
with  our  own,  she  has  affected  to  believe  that  we  have  severed  her 
rightful  territory,  and  in  official  proclamations  and  manifestoes  has 
repeatedly  threatened  to  make  war  upon  us,  for  the  purpose  of 
reconquering  Texas.  In  the  meantime,  we  have  tried  every  effort 
at  reconciliation.  The  cup  of  forbearance  had  been  exhausted, 
even  before  the  recent  information  from  the  frontier  of  the  Del 
Norte.  But  now,  after  reiterated  menaces,  Mexico  has  passed 
the  boundary  of  the  United  States,  has  invaded  our  territory,  and 
shed  American  blood  upon  the  American  soil.  She  has  pro 
claimed  that  hostilities  have  commenced,  and  that  the  two  nations 
are  now  at  war. 

As  war  exists,  and,  notwithstanding  all  our  efforts  to  avoid  it, 
exists  by  the  act  of  Mexico  herself,  we  are  called  upon  by  every 
consideration  of  duty  and  patriotism  to  vindicate  with  decision  the 
honor,  the  rights,  and  the  interests  of  our  country. 

Anticipating  the  possibility  of  a  crisis  like  that  which  has 
arrived,  instructions  were  given  in  August  last,  "  as  a  precau 
tionary  measure  "  against  invasion,  or  threatened  invasion,  au 
thorizing  General  Taylor,  if  the  emergency  required,  to  accept 
volunteers,  not  from  Texas  only,  but  from  the  States  of  Louisiana, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky ;  and  correspond 
ing  letters  were  addressed  to  the  respective  governors  of  those 
states.  These  instructions  were  repeated ;  and,  in  January  last, 
soon  after  the  incorporation  of  "Texas  into  our  union  of  states," 
General  Taylor  was  further  "  authorized  by  the  President  to  make 
a  requisition  upon  the  executive  of  that  State  for  such  of  its 
militia  force  as  may  be  needed  to  repel  invasion,  or  to  secure  the 
country  against  apprehended  invasion."  On  the  second  day  of 
March  he  was  again  reminded,  "in  the  event  of  the  approach  of 
any  considerable  Mexican  force,  promptly  and  efficiently  to  use 
the  authority  with  which  he  was  clothed  to  call  to  him  such 
auxiliary  force  as  he  might  need."  War  actually  existing,  and 
our  territory  having  been  invaded,  General  Taylor,  pursuant  to 
authority  vested  in  him  by  my  direction,  has  called  on  the  gov- 


1846]  FOLK'S   WAR  MESSAGE  353 

ernor  of  Texas  for  four  regiments  of  state  troops  —  two  to  be 
mounted,  and  two  to  serve  on  foot ;  and  on  the  governor  of 
Louisiana  for  four  regiments  of  infantry,  to  be  sent  to  him  as  soon 
as  practicable. 

In  further  vindication  of  our  rights,  and  defence  of  our  territory, 
I  invoke  the  prompt  action  of  Congress  to  recognise  the  existence 
of  the  war,  and  to  place  at  the  disposition  of  the  Executive  the 
means  of  prosecuting  the  war  with  vigor,  and  thus  hastening  the 
restoration  of  peace.  To  this  end  I  recommend  that  authority 
should  be  given  to  call  into  the  public  service  a  large  body  of 
volunteers,  to  serve  for  not  less  than  six  or  twelve  months,  unless 
sooner  discharged.  A  volunteer  force  is  beyond  question  more 
efficient  than  any  other  description  of  citizen  soldiers ;  and  it  is 
not  to  be  doubted  that  a  number  far  beyond  that  required  would 
readily  rush  to  the  field  upon  the  call  of  their  country.  I  further 
recommend  that  a  liberal  provision  be  made  for  sustaining  our 
entire  military  force  and  furnishing  it  with  supplies  and  munitions 
of  war. 

The  most  energetic  and  prompt  measures,  and  the  immediate 
appearance  in  arms  of  a  large  and  overpowering  force,  are  recom 
mended  to  Congress  as  the  most  certain  and  efficient  means  of 
bringing  the  existing  collision  with  Mexico  to  a  speedy  and  suc 
cessful  termination. 

In  making  these  recommendations,  I  deem  it  proper  to  declare 
that  it  is  my  anxious  desire  not  only  to  terminate  hostilities  speedily, 
but  to  bring  all  matters  in  dispute  between  this  government  and 
Mexico  to  an  early  and  amicable  adjustment ;  and,  in  this  view,  I 
shall  be  prepared  to  renew  negotiations,  whenever  Mexico  shall 
be  ready  to  receive  propositions,  or  to  make  propositions  of  her 
own. 

I  transmit  herewith  a  copy  of  the  correspondence  between  our 
envoy  to  Mexico  and  the  Mexican  minister  for  foreign  affairs ; 
and  so  much  of  the  correspondence  between  that  envoy  and  the 
Secretary  of  State,  and  between  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the 
general  in  command  on  the  Del  Norte,  as  is  necessary  to  a  full 
understanding  of  the  subject. 

JAMES  K.  POLK. 

2A 


354  MEXICAN   WAR  [May  13 

No.   73.     Act  for  the  Prosecution   of  the 
Mexican  War 

May  13,   1846 

A  BILL  authorizing  the  President  to  accept  the  services  of  volunteers  in 
certain  cases  had  been  introduced  in  the  House  early  in  the  session  of  1845—46, 
but  no  further  action  in  reference  to  it  had  been  taken.  On  the  receipt  of 
Folk's  war  message  of  May  II  the  bill  was  at  once  taken  up,  a  new  first  sec 
tion  and  preamble  substituted,  and,  with  further  amendments  and  a  changed 
title,  the  bill  passed  the  same  day,  by  a  vote  of  174  to  14.  In  the  Senate,  the 
following  day,  a  motion  to  strike  out  the  preamble  was  lost,  18  to  28,  and 
the  bill,  with  a  slight  amendment,  was  passed,  the  vote  being  40  to  2.  On  the 
1 3th  the  House  concurred  in  the  Senate  amendment,  the  act  was  approved, 
and  a  proclamation  by  the  President  was  issued. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  IX.,  9,  10.  The  brief  proceed 
ings  and  debates  may  be  followed  in  the  Journals  and  Cong.  Globe,  29th  Cong., 
ist  Sess.,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XV.  The  political  causes  and  aspects  of 
the  Mexican  war,  and  its  significance  in  connection  with  the  slavery  contro 
versy,  are  discussed  at  length  in  general  histories  of  the  period  and  in  biog 
raphies  of  contemporary  public  men.  Important  references  are :  Von  Hoist's 
United  States,  III.,  chaps.  4,  7-12;  Curtis's  Bttchanan,  I.,  chap.  21;  Greeley's 
American  Conflict,  I.,  chap.  14;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'1  View,  II.,  chaps. 
149,  161;  Pierce's  Sumner,  III.,  107-157;  Webster's  Works  (ed.  1857),  V., 
253-261,  271-301;  Calhoun's  Works  (ed.  1854),  IV.,  303-327,  396-424. 

An  Act  providing  for  the  Prosecution  of  the  existing  War  between 

the  United  States  and  the  Republic  of  Mexico. 

WHEREAS,  by  the  act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  a  state  of  war 
exists  between  that  Government  and  the  United  States : 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That,  for  the 
purpose  of  enabling  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  prose 
cute  said  war  to  a  speedy  and  successful  termination,  the  Presi 
dent  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  to  employ  the  militia,  naval, 
and  military  'forces  of  the  United  States,  and  to  call  for  and  accept 
the  services  of  any  number  of  volunteers,  not  exceeding  fifty 
thousand,  who  may  offer  their  services,  either  as  cavalry,  artillery, 
infantry,  or  riflemen,  to  serve  twelve  months  after  they  shall  have 
arrived  at  the  place  of  rendezvous,  or  to  the  end  of  the  war, 
unless  sooner  discharged,  according  to  the  time  for  which  they 
shall  have  been  mustered  into  service ;  and  that  the  sum  of  ten 
millions  of  dollars,  out  of  any  moneys  in  the  treasury,  or  to  come 


1846]  TREATY  WITH   GREAT  BRITAIN  355 

into  the  treasury,  not  otherwise  appropriated,  be,  and  the  same  is 
hereby,  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  provisions  of 
this  act  into  effect. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  militia,  when  called 
into  the  service  of  the  United  States  by  virtue  of  this  act,  or  any 
other  act,  may,  if  in  the  opinion  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  the  public  interest  requires  it,  be  compelled  to  serve  for  a 
term  not  exceeding  six  months  after  their  arrival  at  the  place  of 
rendezvous,  in  any  one  year,  unless  sooner  discharged. 

*********** 

SEC.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  President  of  the 
United  States  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  forthwith  to  com 
plete  all  the  public  armed  vessels  now  authorized  by  law,  and  to 
purchase  or  charter,  arm,  equip,  and  man,  such  merchant  vessels 
and  steam-boats  as,  upon  examination,  may  be  found  fit,  or  easily 
converted  into  armed  vessels  fit  for  the  public  service,  and  in 
such  number  as  he  may  deem  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the 
seaboard,  lake  coast,  and  the  general  defence  of  the  country. 


No.   74.     Treaty  with  Great  Britain 

June  15,   1846 

So  much  of  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United  States  as  lay  between  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  had  been  fixed  by  the  Ash- 
burton  treaty  of  1842;  west  of  the  mountains,  however,  the  boundary  was  still 
undetermined.  By  virtue  of  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  France  had 
claimed  all  the  region  west  of  that  river  as  far  as  the  Pacific;  and  this  claim, 
of  doubtful  value  at  best,  had  passed  to  the  United  States  upon  the  purchase 
of  Louisiana  in  1803.  The  region  known  as  Oregon  was  also  claimed  by  the 
United  States,  on  the  ground  of  Gray's  discovery  of  the  Columbia  River  in 
1791.  Oregon  was  also  claimed  by  Great  Britain;  but  by  a  convention  of 
Oct.  20,  1818,  the  two  countries  agreed  to  a  joint  occupancy  of  the  country 
for  ten  years,  without  prejudice  to  the  rights  of  either  party.  By  the  treaty  of 
1819  between  the  United  States  and  Spain,  the  latter  accepted  the  42d 
parallel  as  the  northern  limit  of  its  possessions  on  the  Pacific  coast;  while  by 
treaties  of  1824  with  the  United  States,  and  of  1825  with  Great  Britain,  the 
southern  limit  of  the  Russian  possessions  was  fixed  at  54°  40'.  The  "  Oregon 
country,"  therefore,  was  the  region  between  42°  and  54°  40',  and  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  The  convention  of  1818  was  continued  indefinitely  Aug. 
6,  1827,  but  made  terminable  by  either  party  after  Oct.  20,  1828,  on  twelve 
months'  notice.  In  the  presidential  campaign  of  1844  the  Democratic  plat- 


356  TREATY   WITH   GREAT   BRITAIN  [June  15 

form  demanded  "  the  re-occupation  of  Oregon,  and  the  re-annexation  of 
Texas,  at  the  earliest  practicable  period,"  the  intention  being,  of  course,  to 
use  Oregon  as  a  political  offset  to  Texas.  A  bill  to  organize  a  territorial  gov 
ernment  for  Oregon,  with  the  line  of  54°  40'  as  the  northern  limit,  passed  the 
House  Feb.  3,  1845,  but  t^ie  Senate  refused  to  consider  it  because  slavery  was 
to  be  prohibited  in  the  proposed  territory.  A  joint  resolution  of  April  27, 
1846,  authorized  the  President,  at  his  discretion,  to  give  the  required  notice 
of  withdrawal  from  the  agreement  of  1827  with  Great  Britain.  The  matter  in 
dispute  was  finally  settled  by  the  treaty  of  June  15,  1846,  although,  owing  to 
the  disagreement  of  the  commissioners  under  the  treaty,  a  portion  of  the  water 
boundary  remained  undetermined  until  1871. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia, 
etc.  (ed.  1875),  320-322.  The  message  of  the  President  transmitting  the 
treaty  and  correspondence,  together  with  the  proceedings  of  the  Senate,  are 
in  Senate  Doc.  489,  29th  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  and  Cong.  Globe,  Appendix,  1168- 
1178;  see  also  Senate  Doc.  i,  pp.  138-192,  and  Senate  Doc.  7/7.  The  po 
litical  bearings  of  the  Oregon  question  are  fully  exhibited  in  larger  histories 
of  the  time,  and  in  biographies  of  leading  public  men :  see  especially  Von 
Hoist's  United  States,  III.,  chaps.  2,  6,  13;  Curtis's  Buchanan,  I.,  chap.  20; 
Tyler't;  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  II.,  chap.  15. 

The  United  States  of  America  and  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of 
the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  deeming  it  to 
be  desirable  for  the  future  welfare  of  both  countries  that  the  state 
of  doubt  and  uncertainty  which  has  hitherto  prevailed  respecting 
the  sovereignty  and  government  of  the  territory  on  the  northwest 
coast  of  America,  lying  westward  of  the  Rocky  or  Stony  Mountains, 
should  be  finally  terminated  by  an  amicable  compromise  of  the 
rights  mutually  asserted  by  the  two  parties  over  the  said  territory, 
have  respectively  named  Plenipotentiaries  to  treat  and  agree  con 
cerning  the  terms  of  such  settlement,  that  is  to  say : 

The  President  of  the  United  States  of  America  has,  on  his  part, 
furnished  with  full  powers  James  Buchanan,  Secretary  of  State 
of  the  United  States,  and  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  has,  on  her  part,  appointed 
the  Right  Honorable  Richard  Pakenham,  a  member  of  Her 
Majesty's  Most  Honorable  Privy  Council,  and  Her  Majesty's 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  United 
States  ; 

Who,  after  having  communicated  to  each  other  their  respective 
full  powers,  found  in  good  and  due  form,  have  agreed  upon  and 
concluded  the  following  articles  : 


1846]  TREATY   WITH   GREAT   BRITAIN  357 

ARTICLE  I. 

From  the  point  on  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude, 
where  the  boundary  laid  down  in  existing  treaties  and  conventions 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  terminates,  the  line 
of  boundary  between  the  territories  of  the  United  States  and 
those  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  shall  be  continued  westward  along 
the  said  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude  to  the  middle  of  the 
channel  which  separates  the  continent  from  Vancouver's  Island, 
and  thence  southerly  through  the  middle  of  the  said  channel,  and 
of  Fuca's  Straits,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean :  Provided,  however,  that 
the  navigation  of  the  whole  of  the  said  channel  and  straits,  south 
of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  remain  free  and  open 
to  both  parties. 

ARTICLE  II. 

From  the  point  at  which  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  lati 
tude  shall  be  found  to  intersect  the  great  northern  branch  of  the 
Columbia  River,  the  navigation  of  the  said  branch  shall  be  free 
and  open  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  to  all  British  subjects 
trading  with  the  same,  to  the  point  where  the  said  branch  meets 
the  main  stream  of  the  Columbia,  and  thence  down  the  said  main 
stream  to  the  ocean,  with  free  access  into  and  through  the  said 
river  or  rivers,  it  being  understood  that  all  the  usual  portages  along 
the  line  thus  described  shall,  in  like  manner,  be  free  and  open. 
'In  navigating  the  said  river  or  rivers,  British  subjects, -with  their 
goods  and  produce,  shall  be  treated  on  the  same  footing  as  citizens 
of  the  United  States ;  it  being,  however,  always  understood  that 
nothing  in  this  article  shall  be  construed  as  preventing,  or  intended 
to  prevent,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  from  making 
any  regulations  respecting  the  navigation  of  the  said  river  or  rivers 
not  inconsistent  with  the  present  treaty. 

ARTICLE  III. 

In  the  future  appropriation  of  the  territory  south  of  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  as  provided  in  the  first  article  of 
this  treaty,  the  possessory  rights  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
and  of  all  British  subjects  who  may  be  already  in  the  occupation 
of  land  or  other  property  lawfully  acquired  within  the  said  terri 
tory,  shall  be  respected. 


358  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY  ACT  [Aug.  6 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  farms,  lands,  and  other  property  of  every  description  be 
longing  to  the  Puget's  Sound  Agricultural  Company,  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Columbia  River,  shall  be  confirmed  to  the  said  com 
pany.  In  case,  however,  the  situation  of  those  farms  and  lands 
should  be  considered  by  the  United  States  to  be  of  public  and  po 
litical  importance,  and  the  United  States  Government  should  signify 
a  desire  to  obtain  possession  of  the  whole,  or  of  any  part  thereof, 
the  property  so  required  shall  be  transferred  to  the  said  Govern 
ment,  at  a  proper  valuation,  to  be  agreed  upon  between  the 
parties. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  present  treaty  shall  be  ratified  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate 
thereof,  and  by  Her  Britannic  Majesty ;  and  the  ratifications  shall 
be  exchanged  at  London,  at  the  expiration  of  six  months  from 
the  date  hereof,  or  sooner  if  possible. 

In  witness  whereof  the  respective  Plenipotentiaries  have  signed 
the  same,  and  have  affixed  thereto  the  seals  of  their  arms. 

Done  at  Washington  the  fifteenth  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-six. 

JAMES  BUCHANAN.       [L.S.] 
RICHARD  PAKENHAM.  [L.S.] 


No.  75.      Independent  Treasury  Act 

August  6,  1846 

THE  passage  of  the  act  of  July  4,  1840,  "to  provide  for  the  collection,  safe 
keeping,  transfer,  and  disbursement  of  the  public  revenue,"  seemed  to  mark 
the  final  success  of  the  so-called  independent  treasury  plan,  which  had  been 
several  times  urged  by  the  President,  and  twice  rejected  by  the  House  in  the 
twenty-fifth  Congress.  The  success  of  the  Whigs,  however,  in  the  election  of 
1840,  was  followed,  Aug.  13,  1841,  by  the  repeal  of  the  act ;  while  the  veto  of 
two  successive  bank  bills  by  President  Tyler,  in  the  same  year,  led  to  the 
immediate  resignation  of  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  with  the  exception  of 
Webster,  and  to  a  formal  repudiation  of  Tyler  by  the  Whigs.  From  1841  to 
1846  the  custody  of  the  public  funds  devolved  upon  the  Treasury  Department, 
without  special  regulation  by  law.  December  19,  1845,  a  bill  embodying  the 
general  features  of  the  independent  treasury  act  of  1840  was  reported  in  the 


1846]  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY  ACT  359 

House.  The  bill  was  taken  up  March  30,  and  passed  April  2  by  a  vote  of  123 
to  67.  It  was  not  reported  in  the  Senate  until  June  8,  and  was  not  further 
considered  until  July  29;  Aug.  I  the  bill  passed  the  Senate,  the  vote  being 
28  to  25.  The  amendments  of  the  Senate  were  agreed  to  by  the  House 
Aug.  5,  and  on  the  6th  the  act  was  approved. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  IX.,  59-66.  For  the  pro 
ceedings,  see  the  House  and  Senate  Journals,  29th  Cong.,  ist  Sess. ;  for  the 
debates,  see  the  Cong.  Globe,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XV.  The  act  of  1840 
is  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  V.,  385-392.  On  the  treatment  of  the  public  money 
after  1841,  see  House  Exec.  Doc.  123,  2yth  Cong.,  2d  Sess.  Webster's  speech 
of  Aug.  I,  1846,  is  in  his  Works  (ed.  1857),  V.,  244-252.  For  Clay's 
speeches  on  the  various  sub-treasury  plans,  see  his  Life  and  Speeches  (ed. 
1844),  II.,  279-303,  310-349,  384-405,  432-436:  for  his  speech  on  Tyler's 
bank  vetoes,  ib.,  II.,  485-507.  See  also  Kinley's  Independent  Treasury, 
chap.  2;  Johnston,  in  Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  II.,  493-496;  Benton's  Thirty 
Years'1  View,  II.,  chaps.  29,  41,  64,  65,  80-85,  90,  91. 

An  Act  to  provide  for  the  better  Organization  of  the  Treasury,  and 

for  the  Collection,  Safe-Keeping,  Transfer,  and  Disbursement  of 

the  public  Revenue. 

WHEREAS,  by  the  fourth  section  of  the  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to 
establish  the  Treasury  Department,"  approved  September  two, 
seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-nine,  it  was  provided  that  it  should 
be  the  duty  of  the  treasurer  to  receive  and  keep  the  moneys  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  disburse  the  same  upon  warrants  drawn  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  countersigned  by  the  comptroller, 
and  recorded  by  the  register,  and  not  otherwise  :  and  whereas  it 
is  found  necessary  to  make  further  provisions  to  enable  the  treas 
urer  the  better  to  carry  into  effect  the  intent  of  the  said  section  in 
relation  to  the  receiving  and  disbursing  the  moneys  of  the  United 
States:  Therefore  — 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  rooms 
prepared  and  provided  in  the  new  treasury  building  at  the  seat  of 
government  for  the  use  of  the  treasurer  of  the  United  States,  his 
assistants,  and  clerks,  and  occupied  by  them,  and  also  the  fireproof 
vaults  and  safes  erected  in  said  rooms  for  the  keeping  of  the  pub 
lic  moneys  in  the  possession  and  under  the  immediate  control  of 
said  treasurer,  and  such  other  apartments  as  are  provided  for  in 
this  act  as  places  of  deposit  of  the  public  money,  are  hereby  con 
stituted  and  declared  to  be  the  treasury  of  the  United  States. 
And  all  moneys  paid  into  the  same  shall  be  subject  to  the  draft  of 
the  treasurer,  drawn  agreeably  to  appropriations  made  by  law. 


360  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY   ACT  [Aug.  6 

[Sections  2-4  provide  that  the  mint  at  Philadelphia,  the  branch 
mint  at  New  Orleans,  and  the  places  provided  for  at  New  York, 
Boston,  Charleston,  and  St.  Louis,  under  the  act  of  July  4,  1840, 
for  the  use  of  receivers-general  of  public  money,  shall  be  places  of 
deposit.] 

SEC.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  President  shall 
nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate 
appoint,  four  officers  to  be  denominated  "  assistant  treasurers  of 
the  United  States,"  which  said  officers  shall  hold  their  respective 
offices  for  the  term  of  four  years,  unless  sooner  removed  there 
from  ;  one  of  which  shall  be  located  at  the  city  of  New  York,  in 
the  State  of  New  York  ;  one  other  of  which  shall  be  located  at  the 
city  of  Boston,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  ;  one  other  of  which 
shall  be  located  at  the  city  of  Charleston,  in  the  State  of  South 
Carolina ;  and  one  other  at  St.  Louis,  in  the  State  of  Missouri. 
And  all  of  which  said  officers  shall  give  bonds  to  the  United 
States,  with  sureties,  according  to  the  provisions  hereinafter  con 
tained,  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  of  their  respective 
offices. 

SEC.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  the  treasurer  of  the  mint  of  the  United  States,  the 
treasurers,  and  those  acting  as  such,  of  the  various  branch  mints, 
all  collectors  of  the  customs,  all  surveyors  of  the  customs  acting 
also  as  collectors,  all  assistant  treasurers,  all  receivers  of  public 
moneys  at  the  several  land  offices,  all  postmasters,  and  all  public 
officers  of  whatsoever  character,  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  required 
to  keep  safely,  without  loaning,  using,  depositing  in  banks,  or 
exchanging  for  other  funds  than  as  allowed  by  this  act,  all  the 
public  money  collected  by  them,  or  otherwise  at  any  time  placed 
in  their  possession  and  custody,  till  the  same  is  ordered,  by  the 
proper  department  or  officer  of  the  government,  to  be  transferred 
or  paid  out ;  and  when  such  orders  for  transfer  or  payment  are 
received,  faithfully  and  promptly  to  make  the  same  as  directed,, 
and  to  do  and  perform  all  other  duties  as  fiscal  agents  of  the  gov 
ernment  which  may  be  imposed  by  this  or  any  other  acts  of  Con 
gress,  or  by  any  regulation  of  the  treasury  department  made  in 
conformity  to  law ;  and  also  to  do  and  perform  all  acts  and  duties 
required  by  law,  or  by  direction  of  any  of  the  Executive  depart 
ments  of  the  government,  as  agents  for  paying  pensions,  or  for 
making  any  other  disbursements  which  either  of  the  heads  of 


1846]  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY  ACT  361 

these  departments  may  be  required  by  law  to  make,  and  which  are 
of  a  character  to  be  made  by  the  depositaries  hereby  constituted, 
consistently  with  the  other  official  duties  imposed  upon  them. 

[Sections  7  and  8  relate  to  the  bonds  to  be  given  by  certain 
officers.] 

SEC.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  collectors  and  re 
ceivers  of  public  money,  of  every  character  and  description, 
within  the  District  of  Columbia,  shall,  as  frequently  as  they  may 
be  directed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  or  the  Postmaster- 
General  so  to  do,  pay  over  to  the  treasurer  of  the  United  States, 
at  the  treasury,  all  public  moneys  collected  by  them,  or  in  their 
hands ;  that  all  such  collectors  and  receivers  of  public  moneys 
within  the  cities  of  Philadelphia  and  New  Orleans  shall,  upon  the 
same  direction,  pay  over  to  the  treasurers  of  the  mints  in  their 
respective  cities,  at  the  said  mints,  all  public  moneys  collected  by 
them,  or  in  their  hands  ;  and  that  all  such  collectors  and  receivers 
of  public  moneys  within  the  cities  of  New  York,  Boston,  Charles 
ton,  and  St.  Louis,  shall,  upon  the  same  direction,  pay  over  to  the 
assistant  treasurers  in  their  respective  cities,  at  their  offices,  re 
spectively,  all  the  public  moneys  collected  by  them,  or  in  their 
hands,  to  be  safely  kept  by  the  said  respective  depositaries  until 
otherwise  disposed  of  according  to  law ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  said  Secretary  and  Postmaster-General  respectively  to 
direct  such  payments  by  the  said  collectors  and  receivers  at  all 
the  said  places,  at  least  as  often  as  once  in  each  week,  and  as 
much  more  frequently,  in  all  cases,  as  they  in  their  discretion  may 
think  proper. 

SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  transfer  the  moneys  in  the  hands 
of  any  depositary  hereby  constituted  to  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States,  to  be  there  safely  kept,  to  the  credit  of  the  treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  according  to  the  provisions  of  this  act ;  and  also  to 
transfer  moneys  in  the  hands  of  any  one  depositary  constituted  by 
this  act  to  any  other  depositary  constituted  by  the  same,  at  his 
discretion,  and  as  the  safety  of  the  public  moneys,  and  the  conven 
ience  of  the  public  service,  shall  seem  to  him  to  require  ;  which 
authority  to  transfer  the  moneys  belonging  to  the  post-office 
department  is  also  hereby  conferred  upon  the  Postmaster-General, 
so  far  as  its  exercise  by  him  may  be  consistent  with  the  provisions 
of  existing  laws ;  and  every  depositary  constituted  by  this  act  shall 


362  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY  ACT  [Aug.  6 

keep  his  account  of  the  money  paid  to  or  deposited  with  him, 
belonging  to  the  post-office  department,  separate  and  distinct 
from  the  account  kept  by  him  of  other  public  moneys  so  paid  or 
deposited.  And  for  the  purpose  of  payments  on  the  public 
account,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  treasurer  of  the  United  States 
to  draw  upon  any  of  the  said  depositaries,  as  he  may  think  most 
conducive  to  the  public  interest,  or  to  the  convenience  of  the 
public  creditors,  or  both.  And  each  depositary  so  drawn  upon 
shall  make  returns  to  the  treasury  and  post-office  departments  of 
all  moneys  received  and  paid  by  him,  at  such  times  and  in  such 
form  as  shall  be  directed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  or  the 
Postmaster-General. 

[Sections  11-13  provide  for  examinations  of  the  books  and 
accounts  of  depositaries,  and  for  certain  necessary  expenses.] 

SEC.  14.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  may,  at  his  discretion,  transfer  the  balances  remaining 
with  any  of  the  present  depositaries  to  any  other  of  the  present 
depositaries,  as  he  may  deem  the  safety  of  the  public  money  or 
the  public  convenience  may  require :  Provided,  That  nothing  in 
this  act  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  authorize  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  transfer  the  balances  remaining  with  any  of  the  pres 
ent  depositaries  to  the  depositaries  constituted  by  this  act  before 
the  first  day  of  January  next :  And  provided,  That,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  payments  on  public  account,  out  of  balances  remaining 
with  the  present  depositaries,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  treasurer  of 
the  United  States  to  draw  upon  any  of  the  said  depositaries  as  he 
may  think  most  conducive  to  the  public  interests,  or  to  the  con 
venience  of  the  public  creditors,  or  both. 

SEC.  15.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  marshals,  district 
attorneys,  and  others  having  public  money  to  pay  to  the  United 
States,  and  all  patentees  wishing  to  make  payment  for  patents  to 
be  issued,  may  pay  all  such  moneys  to  the  treasurer  of  the  United 
States,  to  the  treasurer  of  either  of  the  mints  in  Philadelphia  or 
New  Orleans,  to  either  of  the  other  assistant  treasurers,  or  to  such 
other  depositary  constituted  by  this  act  as  shall  be  designated  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States 
to  receive  such  payments,  and  give  receipts  or  certificates  of  deposit 
therefor. 

[Sec.  1 6  declares  what  shall  constitute  an  embezzlement  of  the 
public  moneys,  and  provides  for  the  punishment  thereof.] 


1846]  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY  ACT  363 

SEC.  17.  [The  first  paragraph  of  this  section  provides  for  tem 
porary  accommodations  for  the  several  depositaries.] 

And  whereas,  by  the  thirtieth  section  of  the  act  entitled  "  An 
Act  to  regulate  the  Collection  of  Duties  imposed  by  Law  on  the 
Tonnage  of  Ships  or  Vessels,  and  on  Goods,  Wares,  and  Merchan 
dises,  imported  into  the  United  States,"  approved  July  thirty-one, 
seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-nine,  it  was  provided  that  all  fees 
and  dues  collected  by  virtue  of  that  act  should  be  received  in 
gold  and  silver  coin  only ;  and  whereas,  also,  by  the  fifth  section 
of  the  act  approved  May  ten,  eighteen  hundred,  entitled  "  An  Act 
to  amend  the  Act  entitled  '  An  Act  providing  for  the  Sale  of  the 
Lands  of  the  United  States  in  the  Territory  North-west  of  the 
Ohio,  and  above  the  Mouth  of  Kentucky  River,'  "  it  was  provided 
that  payment  for  the  said  lands  shall  be  made  by  all  purchasers  in 
specie,  or  in  evidences  of  the  public  debt ;  and  whereas,  experi 
ence  has  proved  that  said  provisions  ought  to  be  revived  and  en 
forced,  according  to  the  true  and  wise  intent  of  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States.  — 

SEC.  1 8.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  on  the  first  day  of  January, 
in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven,  and  there 
after,  all  duties,  taxes,  sales  of  public  lands,  debts,  and  sums  of 
money  accruing  or  becoming  due  to  the  United  States,  and  also 
all  sums  due  for  postages  or  otherwise,  to  the  general  post-office 
department,  shall  be  paid  in  gold  and  silver  coin  only,  or  in  treas 
ury  notes  issued  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States  :  Pro 
vided,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  publish,  monthly, 
in  two  newspapers  at  the  city  of  Washington,  the  amount  of  specie 
at  the  several  places  of  deposit,  the  amount  of  treasury  notes  or 
drafts  issued,  and  the  amount  outstanding  on  the  last  day  of  each 
month. 

SEC.  19.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  on  the  first  day  of 
April,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven,  and  thereafter, 
every  officer  or  agent  engaged  in  making  disbursements  on  account 
of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  general  post-office,  shall  make  all 
payments  in  gold  and  silver  coin,  or  in  treasury  notes,  if  the  cred 
itor  agree  to  receive  said  notes  in  payment ;  and  any  receiving  or 
disbursing  officer  or  agent  who  shall  neglect,  evade,  or  violate, 
the  provisions  of  this  and  the  last  preceding  section  of  this  act, 
shall,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  be  immediately  reported 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  with  the  facts  of  such  neg- 


364  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY   ACT  [Aug.  6 

lect,  evasion,  or  violation ;  and  also  to  Congress,  if  in  session ; 
and  if  not  in  session,  at  the  commencement  of  its  session  next 
after  the  violation  takes  place. 

SEC.  20.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  exchange  of  funds 
shall  be  made  by  any  disbursing  officers  or  agents  of  the  govern 
ment,  of  any  grade  or  denomination  whatsoever,  or  connected 
with  any  branch  of  the  public  service,  other  than  an  exchange  for 
gold  and  silver;  and  every  such  disbursing  officer,  when  the 
means  for  his  disbursements  are  furnished  to  him  in  gold  and 
silver,  shall  make  his  payments  in  the  money  so  furnished  ;  or 
when  those  means  are  furnished  to  him  in  drafts,  shall  cause  those 
drafts  to  be  presented  at  their  place  of  payment,  and  properly  paid 
according  to  the  law,  and  shall  make  his  payments  in  the  money 
so  received  for  the  drafts  furnished,  unless,  in  either  case,  he  can 
exchange  the  means  in  his  hands  for  gold  and  silver  at  par.  And 
it  shall  be  and  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  the  head  of  the  proper 
department  immediately  to  suspend  from  duty  any  disbursing  offi 
cer  who  shall  violate  the  provisions  of  this  section,  and  forthwith 
to  report  the  name  of  the  officer  or  agent  to  the  President,  with 
the  fact  of  the  violation,  and  all  the  circumstances  accompanying 
the  same,  and  within  the  knowledge  of  the  said  Secretary,  to  the 
end  that  such  officer  or  agent  may  be  promptly  removed  from 
office,  or  restored  to  his  trust  and  the  performance  of  his  duties, 
as  to  the  President  may  seem  just  and  proper  :  Provided,  however, 
That  those  disbursing  officers  having  at  present  credits  in  the 
banks  shall,  until  the  first  day  of  January  next,  be  allowed  to  check 
on  the  same,  allowing  the  public  creditors  to  receive  their  pay 
from  the  banks  either  in  specie  or  bank  notes.  , 

SEC.  21.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  issue  and  publish  regulations  to 
enforce  the  speedy  presentation  of  all  government  drafts  for  pay 
ment  at  the  place  where  payable,  and  to  prescribe  the  time,  ac 
cording  to  the  different  distances  of  the  depositaries  from  the  seat 
of  government,  within  which  all  drafts  upon  them,  respectively, 
shall  be  presented  for  payment ;  and,  in  default  of  such  presenta 
tion,  to  direct  any  other  mode  and  place  of  payment  which  he 
may  deem  proper ;  but,  in  all  these  regulations  and  directions,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  guard,  as  far 
as  may  be,  against  those  drafts  being  used  or  thrown  into  circula 
tion  as  a  paper  currency  or  medium  of  exchange.  And  no  officer 


1846]  TREATY  WITH   MEXICO  365 

of  the  United  States  shall,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  sell  or  dis 
pose  to  any  person  or  persons,  or  corporations,  whatsoever,  for  a 
premium,  any  treasury  note,  draft,  warrant,  or  other  public  secu 
rity,  not  his  private  property,  or  sell  or  dispose  of  the  avails  or 
proceeds  of  such  note,  draft,  warrant,  or  security,  in  his  hands  for 
disbursement,  without  making  return  of  such  premium,  and  ac 
counting  therefor  by  charging  the  same  in  his  accounts  to  the 
credit  of  the  United  States  ;  and  any  officer  violating  this  section 
shall  be  forthwith  dismissed  from  office. 

[Sections  22  and  23  provide  for  salaries  and  certain  expenses, 
and  forbid  any  official  charging  or  receiving  any  commission  or 
pay  for  his  services  under  the  act.] 

SEC.  24.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  acts,  or  parts  of 
acts,  which  come  in  conflict  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  be,  and 
the  same  are  hereby,  repealed. 


No.  76.     Treaty  with  Mexico 

February  2,  1848 

THE  treaty  which  closed  the  Mexican  war  was  negotiated  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  by  N.  P.  Trist,  who,  previous  to  his  appointment  as  com 
missioner  and  confidential  agent,  had  been  chief  clerk  of  the  Department  of 
State.  He  was  instructed  "  to  demand  the  cession  of  New  Mexico  and  Cali 
fornia  in  satisfaction  of  claims  against  Mexico."  He  left  Washington  April  1 6, 
1847,  and  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz,  the  headquarters  of  the  United  States  army, 
May  6.  November  16  he  received  a  letter  of  recall,  but  disregarded  it,  and 
Feb.  2,  1848,  concluded  with  Mexico  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo.  Trist 
remained  in  Mexico  until  April  8,  when  an  order  for  his  arrest  compelled  him 
to  leave.  The  treaty  was  sent  to  the  Senate  Feb.  23,  and  ratified  by  that  body, 
with  amendments,  March  10,  by  a  vote  of  38  to  14.  The  suggested  amendments 
were  accepted  by  Mexico,  and  May  30  ratifications  were  exchanged.  An  act 
of  July  29,  1848,  provided  for  the  payment  of  liquidated  claims  against 
Mexico.  The  survey  of  the  boundary  line  was  provided  for  by  an  act  of 
Aug.  12,  and  acts  of  Feb.  26  and  March  3,  1849,  and  March  3,  1851,  made 
further  provision  for  the  settlement  of  Mexican  claims. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia, 
etc.  (ed.  1875),  492~5O1-  The  papers  accompanying  the  treaty,  and  the 
proceedings  of  the  Senate,  are  in  Senate  Exec.  Doc.  52,  3Oth  Cong.,  1st  Sess. ; 
other  papers  are  in  House  Exec.  Doc.  40,  56,  60,  69,  and  70.  On  the  negotia 
tion  of  the  treaty,  see  House  Exec.  Doc.  50,  3Oth  Cong.,  2d  Sess.;  on  the 
part  played  by  Trist,  Senate  Rep.  261,  4 1st  Cong.,  2d  Sess.  The  discussions 
in  Congress  may  be  followed  in  Cong.  Globe,  3Oth  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  and  appen- 


366  TREATY  WITH   MEXICO  [Feb.  2 

dix.    See  also  Wharton's  Intern.  Law  Digest  (eel.  1887),  II.,  256-261 ;  Benton's 
Thirty  Years'  View,  II.,  chap.  173;   Von  Hoist's  United  States,  III.,  chap.  7. 

In  the  name  of  Almighty  God  : 

The  United  States  of  America  and  the  United  Mexican  States, 
animated  by  a  sincere  desire  to  put  an  end  to  the  calamities  of 
the  war  which  unhappily  exists  between  the  two  Republics,  and 
to  establish  upon  a  solid  basis  relations  of  peace  and  friendship, 
which  shall  confer  reciprocal  benefits  upon  the  citizens  of  both, 
and  assure  the  concord,  harmony,  and  mutual  confidence  wherein 
the  two  peoples  should  live,  as  good  neighbours,  have  for  that  pur 
pose  appointed  their  respective  plenipotentiaries,  that  is  to  say : 

The  President  of  the  United  States  has  appointed  Nicholas  P. 
Trist,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  the  President  of  the 
Mexican  Republic  has  appointed  Don  Luis  Gonzaga  Cuevas,  Don 
Bernardo  Couto,  and  Don  Migujsl  Atristain,  citizens  of  the  said 
Republic ; 

Who,  after  a  reciprocal  communication  of  their  respective  full 
powers,  have,  under  the  protection  of  Almighty  God,  the  author 
of  peace,  arranged,  agreed  upon,  and  signed  the  following 

Treaty  of  Peace,  Friendship,  Limits,  and  Settlement  between  the 
United  States  of  America  and  the  Mexican  Republic. 

ARTICLE  I. 

There  shall  be  firm  and  universal  peace  between  the  United 
States  of  America  and  the  Mexican  Republic,  and  between  their 
respective  countries,  territories,  cities,  towns,  and  people,  without 
exception  of  places  or  persons. 

[Articles  II.-IV.  make  the  usual  provisions  for  the  cessation  of 
hostilities,  restoration  of  certain  property  and  prisoners  of  war,  and 
withdrawal  of  United  States  troops.] 

ARTICLE  V.* 

The  boundary  line  between  the  two  Republics  shall  commence 
in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  three  leagues  from  land,  opposite  the  mouth 
of  the  Rio  Grande,  otherwise  called  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  or 
opposite  the  mouth  of  its  deepest  branch,  if  it  should  have  more 
than  one  branch  emptying  directly  into  the  sea ;  from  thence  up 
the  middle  of  that  river,  following  the  deepest  channel,  where  it 

*  Amended  by  Article  I.  of  the  treaty  of  Dec.  30,  1853.  —  ED. 


1848]  TREATY   WITH    MEXICO  367 

has  more  than  one,  to  the  point  where  it  strikes  the  southern 
boundary  of  New  Mexico ;  thence,  westwardly,  along  the  whole 
southern  boundary  of  New  Mexico  (which  runs  north  of  the  town 
called  Paso)  to  its  western  termination  ;  thence,  northward,  along 
the  western  line  of  New  Mexico,  until  it  intersects  the  first  branch 
of  the  river  Gila  ;  (or  if  it  should  not  intersect  any  branch  of  that 
river,  then  to  the  point  on  the  said  line  nearest  to  such  branch, 
and  thence  in  a  direct  line  to  the  same ;)  thence  down  the  middle 
of  the  said  branch  and  of  the  said  river,  until  it  empties  into  the  Rio 
Colorado ;  thence  across  the  Rio  Colorado,  following  the  division 
line  between  Upper  and  Lower  California,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  southern  and  western  limits  of  New  Mexico,  mentioned  in 
this  article,  are  those  laid  down  in  the  map  entitled  "  Map  of  the 
United  Mexican  States,  as  organized  and  defined  by  various  acts 
of  the  Congress  of  said  republic,  and  constructed  according _  to  the 
best  authorities.  Revised  edition.  Published  at  New  York,  in 
1847,  fy  J-  Disturnell;"  of  which  map  a  copy  is  added  to  this 
treaty,  bearing  the  signatures  and  seals  of  the  undersigned  Pleni 
potentiaries.  And,  in  order  to  preclude  all  difficulty  in  tracing 
upon  the  ground  the  limit  separating  Upper  from  Lower  California, 
it  is  agreed  that  the  said  limit  shall  consist  of  a  straight  line  drawn 
from  the  middle  of  the  Rio  Gila,  where  it  unites  with  the  Colorado, 
to  a  point  on  the  coast  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  distant  one  marine 
league  due  south  of  the  southernmost  point  of  the  port  of  San 
Diego,  according  to  the  plan  of  said  port  made  in  the  year  1782 
by  Don  Juan  Pantoja,  second  sailing-master  of  the  Spanish  fleet, 
and  published  at  Madrid  in  the  year  1802,  in  the  atlas  to  the 
voyage  of  the  schooners  Sutil  and  Mexicana ;  of  which  plan  a 
copy  is  hereunto  added,  signed  and  sealed  by  the  respective 
Plenipotentiaries.  .  .  . 

The  boundary  line  established  by  this  article  shall  be  religiously 
respected  by  each  of  the  two  republics,  and  no  change  shall  ever 
be  made  therein,  except  by  the  express  and  free  consent  of  both 
nations,  lawfully  given  by  the  General  Government  of  each,  in 
conformity  with  its  own  constitution. 

ARTICLE  VI.* 

The  vessels  and  citizens  of  the  United  States  shall,  in  all  time, 
have  a  free  and  uninterrupted  passage  by  the  Gulf  of  California, 
*  Amended  by  Article  IV.  of  the  treaty  of  Dec.  30,  1853.  —  ED. 


368  TREATY   WITH    MEXICO  [Feb.  2 

and  by  the  river  Colorado  below  its  confluence  with  the  Gila, 
to  and  from  their  possessions  situated  north  of  the  boundary  line 
defined  in  the  preceding  article  ;  it  being  understood  that  this 
passage  is  to  be  by  navigating  the  Gulf  of  California  and  the  river 
Colorado,  and  not  by  land,  without  the  express  consent  of  the 
Mexican  Government. 

If,  by  the  examinations  which  may  be  made,  it  should  be  ascer 
tained  to  be  practicable  and  advantageous  to  construct  a  road, 
canal,  or  railway,  which  should  in  whole  or  in  part  run  upon  the 
river  Gila,  or  upon  its  right  or  its  left  bank,  within  the  space  of 
one  marine  league  from  either  margin  of  the  river,  the  Govern 
ments  of  both  republics  will  form  an  agreement  regarding  its 
construction,  in  order  that  it  may  serve  equally  for  the  use  and 
advantage  of  both  countries. 

ARTICLE  VII.* 

The  river  Gila,  and  the  part  of  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte  lying 
below  the  southern  boundary  of  New  Mexico,  being,  agreeably  to 
the  fifth  article,  divided  in  the  middle  between  the  two  republics, 
the  navigation  of  the  Gila  and  of  the  Bravo  below  said  boundary 
shall  be  free  and  common  to  the  vessels  and  citizens  of  both 
countries ;  and  neither  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  other, 
construct  any  work  that  may  impede  or  interrupt,  in  whole  or  in 
part,  the  exercise  of  this  right ;  not  even  for  the  purpose  of  favor 
ing  new  methods  of  navigation.  Nor  shall  any  tax  or  contribution, 
under  any  denomination  or  title,  be  levied  upon  vessels  or  persons 
navigating  the  same,  or  upon  merchandise  or  effects  transported 
thereon,  except  in  the  case  of  landing  upon  one  of  their  shores. 
If,  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  said  rivers  navigable,  or  for 
maintaining  them  in  such  state,  it  should  be  necessary  or  advan 
tageous  to  establish  any  tax  or  contribution,  this  shall  not  be  done 
without  the  consent  of  both  Governments. 

The  stipulations  contained  in  the  present  article  shall  not  impair 
the  territorial  rights  of  either  republic  within  its  established  limits. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

Mexicans  now  established  in  territories  previously  belonging  to 
Mexico,  and  which  remain  for  the  future  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  States,  as  defined  by  the  present  treaty,  shall  be  free  to 

*  Amended  by  Article  IV.  of  the  treaty  of  Dec.  30,  1853.  —  ED. 


1848]  TREATY   WITH   MEXICO  369 

continue  where  they  now  reside,  or  to  remove  at  any  time  to  the 
Mexican  Republic,  retaining  the  property  which  they  possess  in 
the  said  territories,  or  disposing  thereof,  and  removing  the  pro 
ceeds  wherever  they  please,  without  their  being  subjected,  on  this 
account,  to  any  contribution,  tax,  or  charge  whatever. 

Those  who  shall  prefer  to  remain  in  the  said  territories  may 
either  retain  the  title  and  rights  of  Mexican  citizens,  or  acquire 
those  of  citizens  of  the  United  States.  But  they  shall  be  under  the 
obligation  to  make  their  election  within  one  year  from  the  date 
of  the  exchange  of  ratifications  of  this  treaty ;  and  those  who  shall 
remain  in  the  said  territories  after  the  expiration  of  that  year, 
without  having  declared  their  intention  to  retain  the  character  of 
Mexicans,  shall  be  considered  to  have  elected  to  become  citizens 
of  the  United  States. 

In  the  said  territories,  property  of  every  kind,  now  belonging 
to  Mexicans  not  established  there,  shall  be  inviolably  respected. 
The  present  owners,  the  heirs  of  these,  and  all  Mexicans  who 
may  hereafter  acquire  said  property  by  contract,  shall  enjoy  with 
respect  to  it  guarantees  equally  ample  as  if  the  same  belonged  to 
citizens  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  IX.* 

The  Mexicans  who,  in  the  territories  aforesaid,  shall  not  pre 
serve  the  character  of  citizens  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  con 
formably  with  what  is  stipulated  in  the  preceding  article,  shall 
be  incorporated  into  the  Union  of  the  United  States,  and  be 
admitted  at  the  proper  time  (to  be  judged  of  by  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States)  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  of  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitu 
tion  ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  shall  be  maintained  and  protected 
in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  liberty  and  property,  and  secured  in 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion  without  restriction. 

[Article  X.,  relating  to  Mexican  land  grants  in  the  ceded  terri 
tory,  was  stricken  out  by  the  Senate  (see  protocol,  May  26,  1848). 
Article  XL,  binding  the  United  States  to  prevent  Indian  incursions 
into  Mexican  territory,  and  to  restore  Mexican  prisoners  taken  by 
Indians,  was  abrogated  by  Article  II.  of  the  treaty  of  Dec.  30, 
1853-] 

*  See  protocol,  May  26,  1848  :  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia^ 
etc.,  502.  — ED. 
2  B 


3/O  TREATY   WITH    MEXICO  [Feb.  2 

ARTICLE  XII. 

In  consideration  of  the  extension  acquired  by  the  boundaries 
of  the  United  States,  as  defined  in  the  fifth  article  of  the  present 
treaty,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  engages  to  pay  to  that 
of  the  Mexican  Republic  the  sum  of  fifteen  millions  of  dollars. 

Immediately  after  this  treaty  shall  have  been  duly  ratified  by 
the  Government  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  the  sum  of  three  millions 
of  dollars  shall  be  paid  to  the  said  Government  by  that  of  the 
United  States,  at  the  city  of  Mexico,  in  the  gold  or  silver  coin 
of  Mexico.  The  remaining  twelve  millions  of  dollars  shall  be 
paid  at  the  same  place,  and  in  the  same  coin,  in  annual  instal 
ments  of  three  millions  of  dollars  each,  together  with  interest  on 
the  same  at  the  rate  of  six  per  centum  per  annum.  This  interest 
shall  begin  to  run  upon  the  whole  sum  of  twelve  millions  from  the 
day  of  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty  by  the  Mexican  Gov 
ernment,  and  the  first  of  the  instalments  shall  be  paid  at  the 
expiration  of  one  year  from  the  same  day.  Together  with  each 
annual  instalment,  as  it  falls  due,  the  whole  interest  accruing  on 
such  instalment  from  the  beginning  shall  also  be  paid. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

The  United  States  engage,  moreover,  to  assume  and  pay  to  the 
claimants  all  the  amounts  now  due  them,  and  those  hereafter 
to  become  due,  by  reason  of  the  claims  already  liquidated  and 
decided  against  the  Mexican  Republic,  under  the  conventions 
between  the  two  republics  severally  concluded  on  the  eleventh 
day  of  April,  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-nine,  and  on  the  thir 
tieth  day  of  January,  eighteen  hundred  and  forty-three ;  so  that 
the  Mexican  Republic  shall  be  absolutely  exempt,  for  the  future, 
from  all  expense  whatever  on  account  of  the  said  claims. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

The  United  States  do  furthermore  discharge  the  Mexican  Re 
public  from  all  claims  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  not  hereto 
fore  decided  against  the  Mexican  Government,  which  may  have 
arisen  previously  to  the  date  of  the  signature  of  this  treaty  ;  which 
discharge  shall  be  final  and  perpetual,  whether  the  said  claims  be 
rejected  or  be  allowed  by  the  board  of  commissioners  provided 


1848]  TREATY  WITH   MEXICO  371 

for  in  the  following  article,  and  whatever  shall  be  the  total  amount 
of  those  allowed. 

ARTICLE  XV. 

The  United  States,  exonerating  Mexico  from  all  demands  on 
account  of  the  claims  of  their  citizens  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
article,  and  considering  them  entirely  and  forever  cancelled,  what 
ever  their  amount  may  be,  undertake  to  make  satisfaction  for  the 
same,  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  three  and  one-quarter  millions 
of  dollars.  .  .  . 

ARTICLE  XVI. 

Each  of  the  contracting  parties  reserves  to  itself  the  entire  right 
to  fortify  whatever  point  within  its  territory  it  may  judge  proper 
so  to  fortify  for  its  security. 

ARTICLE  XVII. * 

The  treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and  navigation,  concluded  at 
the  city  of  Mexico  on  the  fifth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1831,  between 
the  United  States  of  America  and  the  United  Mexican  States, 
except  the  additional  article,  and  except  so  far  as  the  stipulations 
of  the  said  treaty  may  be  incompatible  with  any  stipulation  con 
tained  in  the  present  treaty,  is  hereby  revived  for  the  period  of 
eight  years  from  the  day  of  the  exchange  of  ratifications  of  this 
treaty,  with  the  same  force  and  virtue  as  if  incorporated  therein ; 
it  being  understood  that  each  of  the  contracting  parties  reserves 
to  itself  the  right,  at  any  time  after  the  said  period  of  eight  years 
shall  have  expired,  to  terminate  the  same  by  giving  one  year's 
notice  of  such  intention  to  the  other  party. 

[Articles  XVIII.-XX.  relate  to  duties  on  merchandise,  etc., 
imported  into  Mexico  before  the  withdrawal  of  the  United  States 
troops.] 

ARTICLE  XXI. 

If  unhappily  any  disagreement  should  arise  between  the  Gov 
ernments  of  the  two  republics,  whether  with  respect  to  the  inter 
pretation  of  any  stipulation  in  this  treaty,  or  with  respect  to  any 
other  particular  concerning  the  political  or  commercial  relations 
of  the  two  nations,  the  said  Governments,  in  the  name  of  those 
nations,  do  promise  to  each  other  that  they  will  endeavour,  in  the 
most  sincere  and  earnest  manner,  to  settle  the  differences  so  arising, 
*  Cf.  Article  V.  of  the  treaty  of  Dec.  30,  1853.  —  ED. 


372  TREATY   WITH   MEXICO  [Feb.  2 

and  to  preserve  the  state  of  peace  and  friendship  in  which  the 
two  countries  are  now  placing  themselves,  using,  for  this  end, 
mutual  representations  and  pacific  negotiations.  And  if,  by  these 
means,  they  should  not  be  enabled  to  come  to  an  agreement,  a 
resort  shall  not,  on  this  account,  be  had  to  reprisals,  aggression,  or 
hostility  of  any  kind,  by  the  one  republic  against  the  other,  until 
the  Government  of  that  which  deems  itself  aggrieved  shall  have 
maturely  considered,  in  the  spirit  of  peace  and  good  neighbour 
ship,  whether  it  would  not  be  better  that  such  difference  should 
be  settled  by  the  arbitration  of  commissioners  appointed  on  each 
side,  or  by  that  of  a  friendly  nation.  And  should  such  course  be 
proposed  by  either  party,  it  shall  be  acceded  to  by  the  other, 
unless  deemed  by  it  altogether  incompatible  with  the  nature  of 
the  difference,  or  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 

[Article  XXII.  relates  to  the  rules  to  be  observed  in  case  of 
war.] 

ARTICLE  XXIII. 

This  treaty  shall  be  ratified  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate  thereof;  and  by  the  President  of  the  Mexican  Republic, 
with  the  previous  approbation  of  its  general  Congress ;  and  the 
ratifications  shall  be  exchanged  in  the  city  of  Washington,  or  at 
the  seat  of  Government  of  Mexico,  in  four  months  from  the  date 
of  the  signature  hereof,  or  sooner  if  practicable. 

In  faith  whereof  we,  the  respective  Plenipotentiaries,  have  signed 
this  treaty  of  peace,  friendship,  limits,  and  settlement,  and  have 
hereunto  affixed  our  seals  respectively.  Done  in  quintuplicate,  at 
the  city  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  on  the  second  day  of  February, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty- 
eight. 

N.  P.  TRIST.  [L.S.] 

Luis  G.  CUEVAS.  [L.S.] 
BERNARDO  COUTO.  [L.S.] 
MIGL.  ATRISTAIN.  [L.S.] 


1848]  CLAYTON-BULWER  TREATY  373 

No.   77.      Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty 

April  ig,   1850 

THE  various  isthmus  passages  Between  Tehuantepec  and  Panama  afforded 
the  easiest  routes  for  emigrants  to  California;  and  the  acquisition  of  Califor 
nia  by  the  United  States  in  1848,  followed  by  the  discovery  of  gold,  made  the 
question  of  the  control  of  these  routes  an  important  one.  "  It  was  supposed 
that  the  most  practicable  route  for  a  ship-canal  was  through  the  State  of 
Nicaragua,  by  way  of  the  San  Juan  River  and  the  lakes  through  which  it 
passes."  Great  Britain  claimed  a  protectorate  over  the  Mosquito  Indians,  on 
the  east  coast  of  Nicaragua,  and  their  territory,  and  declined  to  relinquish  it 
to  the  extent  of  allowing  the  construction  of  a  canal  under  the  joint  sanction 
of  Nicaragua  and  the  United  States.  The  alleged  submission  of  the  Indians 
of  the  Mosquito  coast  to  Great  Britain,  on  which  the  claim  of  the  latter  was 
based,  was  denied  by  the  United  States;  but  as  the  construction  of  the  canal 
without  the  consent  of  Great  Britain  might  lead  to  war,  negotiations  were 
opened  by  Clayton,  Secretary  of  State,  with  Sir  Henry  Lytton  Bulwer,  British 
minister  at  Washington,  which  resulted  in  the  treaty  of  April  19,  1850.  The 
ratifications  were  exchanged  at  Washington  July  4. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  the  District  of  Colum 
bia,  etc.  (ed.  1875),  322-325.  For  diplomatic  correspondence,  see  Senate 
Doc.  12  and  27,  32d  Cong.,  2d  Sess.  The  treaty  is  discussed  at  length  in 
Wharton's  Intern.  Law  Digest  (ed.  1887),  II.,  184-244;  see  also  #.,  III., 
1-7- 

The  United  States  of  America  and  Her  Britannic  Majesty,  being 
desirous  of  consolidating  the  relations  of  amity  which  so  happily 
subsist  between  them  by  setting  forth  and  fixing  in  a  convention 
their  views  and  intentions  with  reference  to  any  means  of  com 
munication  by  ship-canal  which  may  be  constructed  between  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans  by  the  way  of  the  river  San  Juan 
de  Nicaragua,  and  either  or  both  of  the  lakes  of  Nicaragua  or 
Managua,  to  any  port  or  place  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the  President 
of  the  United  States  has  conferred  full  powers  on  John  M.  Clayton, 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  and  Her  Britannic  Majesty 
on  the  Right  Honorable  Sir  Henry  Lytton  Bulwer,  a  member  of 
Her  Majesty's  Most  Honorable  Privy  Council,  Knight  Commander 
of  the  Most  Honorable  Order  of  the  Bath,  and  Envoy  Extraor 
dinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  to 
the  United  States,  for  the  aforesaid  purpose ;  and  the  said  Pleni 
potentiaries,  having  exchanged  their  full  powers,  which  were  found 
to  be  in  proper  form,  have  agreed  to  the  following  articles : 


374  CLAYTON-BULWER  TREATY  [April  19 

ARTICLE  I. 

The  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  hereby 
declare  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  will  ever  obtain  or 
maintain  for  itself  any  exclusive  control  over  the  said  ship-canal ; 
agreeing  that  neither  will  ever  erect  or  maintain  any  fortifications 
commanding  the  same,  or  in  the  vicinity  thereof,  or  occupy,  or 
fortify,  or  colonize,  or  assume  or  exercise  any  dominion  over 
Nicaragua,  Costa  Rica,  the  Mosquito  coast,  or  any  part  of  Central 
America;  nor  will  either  make  use  of  any  protection  which  either 
affords  or  may  afford,  or  any  alliance  which  either  has  or  may 
have  to  or  with  any  State  or  people  for  the  purpose  of  erecting 
or  maintaining  any  such  fortifications,  or  of  occupying,  fortifying, 
or  colonizing  Nicaragua,  Costa  Rica,  the  Mosquito  coast,  or  any 
part  of  Central  America,  or  of  assuming  or  exercising  dominion 
over  the  same ;  nor  will  the  United  States  or  Great  Britain  take 
advantage  of  any  intimacy,  or  use  any  alliance,  connection,  or 
influence  that  either  may  possess,  with  any  State  or  Government 
through  whose  territory  the  said  canal  may  pass,  for  the  purpose 
of  acquiring  or  holding,  directly  or  indirectly,  for  the  citizens  or 
subjects  of  the  one  any  rights  or  advantages  in  regard  to  commerce 
or  navigation  through  the  said  canal  which  shall  not  be  offered  on 
the  same  terms  to  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  the  other. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Vessels  of  the  United  States  or  Great  Britain  -traversing  the  said 
canal  shall,  in  case  of  war  between  the  contracting  parties,  be 
exempted  from  blockade,  detention,  or  capture  by  either  of  the 
belligerents ;  and  this  provision  shall  extend  to  such  a  distance 
from  the  two  ends  of  the  said  canal  as  may  hereafter  be  found 
expedient  to  establish. 

ARTICLE  III. 

In  order  to  secure  the  construction  of  the  said  canal,  the  con 
tracting  parties  engage  that,  if  any  such  canal  shall  be  undertaken 
upon  fair  and  equitable  terms  by  any  parties  having  the  authority 
of  the  local  government  or  governments  through  whose  territory 
the  same  may  pass,  then  the  persons  employed  in  making  the 
said  canal,  and  their  property  used  or  to  be  used  for  that  object, 
shall  be  protected,  from  the  commencement  of  the  said  canal  to 
its  completion,  by  the  Governments  of  the  United  States  and 


1850]  CLAYTON-BULWER  TREATY  3/5 

Great  Britain,  from  unjust  detention,  confiscation,  seizure,  or  any 

violence  whatsoever. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  contracting  parties  will  use  whatever  influence  they  respec 
tively  exercise  with  any  State,  States,  or  Governments  possessing, 
or  claimimg  to  possess,  any  jurisdiction  or  right  over  the  territory 
which  the  said  canal  shall  traverse,  or  which  shall  be  near  the 
waters  applicable  thereto,  in  order  to  induce  such  States  or  Gov 
ernments  to  facilitate  the  construction  of  the  said  canal  by  every 
means  in  their  power;  and  furthermore,  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  agree  to  use  their  good  offices,  wherever  or  however 
it  may  be  most  expedient,  in  order  to  procure  the  establishment 
of  two  free  ports,  one  at  each  end  of  the  said  canal. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  contracting  parties  further  engage  that  when  the  said  cana\ 
shall  have  been  completed  they  will  protect  it  from  interruption, 
seizure,  or  unjust  confiscation,  and  that  they  will  guarantee  the 
neutrality  thereof,  so  that  the  said  canal  may  forever  be  open  and 
free,  and  the  capital  invested  therein  secure.  Nevertheless,  the 
Governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  in  according 
their  protection  to  the  construction  of  the  said  canal,  and  guaran 
teeing  its  neutrality  and  security  when  completed,  always  under 
stand  that  this  protection  and  guarantee  are  granted  conditionally, 
and  may  be  withdrawn  by  both  Governments,  or  either  Govern 
ment,  if  both  Governments  or  either  Government  should  deem 
that  the  persons  or  company  undertaking  or  managing  the  same 
adopt  or  establish  such  regulations  concerning  the  traffic  there 
upon  as  are  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  intention  of  this  convention, 
either  by  making  unfair  discriminations  in  favor  of  the  commerce 
of  one  of  the  contracting  parties  over  the  commerce  of  the  other, 
or  by  imposing  oppressive  exactions  or  unreasonable  tolls  upon 
passengers,  vessels,  goods,  wares,  merchandise,  or  other  articles. 
Neither  party,  however,  shall  withdraw  the  aforesaid  protection 
and  guarantee  without  first  giving  six  months'  notice  to  the  other. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

The  contracting  parties  in  this  convention  engage  to  invite 
every  State  with  which  both  or  either  have  friendly  intercourse  to 
enter  into  stipulations  with  them  similar  to  those  which  they  have 
entered  into  with  each  other,  to  the  end  that  all  other  States  may 


3/6  CLAYTON-BULWER  TREATY  [April  19 

share  in  the  honor  and  advantage  of  having  contributed  to  a 
work  of  such  general  interest  and  importance  as  the  canal  herein 
contemplated.  And  the  contracting  parties  likewise  agree  that 
each  shall  enter  into  treaty  stipulations  with  such  of  the  Central 
American  States  as  they  may  deem  advisable  for  the  purpose  of 
more  effectually  carrying  out  the  great  design  of  this  convention, 
namely,  that  of  constructing  and  maintaining  the  said  canal  as  a 
ship  communication  between  the  two  oceans,  for  the  benefit  of 
mankind,  on  equal  terms  to  all,  and  of  protecting  the  same  ;  and 
they  also  agree  that  the  good  offices  of  either  shall  be  employed, 
when  requested  by  the  other,  in  aiding  and  assisting  the  negotia 
tion  of  such  treaty  stipulations ;  and  should  any  differences  arise 
as  to  right  or  property  over  the  territory  through  which  the  said 
canal  shall  pass,  between  the  States  or  Governments  of  Central 
America,  and  such  differences  should  in  any  way  impede  or  obstruct 
the  execution  of  the  said  canal,  the  Governments  of  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  will  use  their  good  offices  to  settle  such 
differences  in  the  manner  best  suited  to  promote  the  interests  of 
the  said  canal,  and  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  friendship  and 
alliance  which  exist  between  the  contracting  parties. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

It  being  desirable  that  no  time  should  be  unnecessarily  lost  in 
commencing  and  constructing  the  said  canal,  the  Governments 
of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  determine  to  give  their 
support  and  encouragement  to  such  persons  or  company  as  may 
first  offer  to  commence  the  same,  with  the  necessary  capital,  the 
consent  of  the  local  authorities,  and  on  such  principles  as  accord 
with  the  spirit  and  intention  of  this  convention  ;  and  if  any  persons 
or  company  should  already  have,  with  any  State  through  which 
the  proposed  ship-canal  may  pass,  a  contract  for  the  construction 
of  such  a  canal  as  that  specified  in  this  convention,  to  the  stipu 
lations  of  which  contract  neither  of  the  contracting  parties  in 
this  convention  have  any  just  cause  to  object,  and  the  said 
persons  or  company  shall,  moreover,  have  made  preparations  and 
expended  time,  money,  and  trouble  on  the  faith  of  such  contract, 
it  is  hereby  agreed  that  such  persons  or  company  shall  have  a 
priority  of  claim  over  every  other  person,  persons,  or  company  to 
the  protection  of  the  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  and  be  allowed  a  year  from  the  date  of  the  exchange  of 


1850]  CLAYTON-BULWER  TREATY  377 

the  ratifications  of  this  convention  for  concluding  their  arrange 
ments  and  presenting  evidence  of  sufficient  capital  subscribed  to 
accomplish  the  contemplated  undertaking ;  it  being  understood 
that  if,  at  the  expiration  of  the  aforesaid  period,  such  persons  or 
company  be  not  able  to  commence  and  carry  out  the  proposed 
enterprize,  then  the  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  shall  be  free  to  afford  their  protection  to  any  other  persons 
or  company  that  shall  be  prepared  to  commence  and  proceed 
with  the  construction  of  the  canal  in  question. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  having 
not  only  desired,  in  entering  into  this  convention,  to  accomplish 
a  particular  object,  but  also  to  establish  a  general  principle,  they 
hereby  agree  to  extend  their  protection,  by  treaty  stipulations,  to 
any  other  practicable  communications,  whether  by  canal  or  railway, 
across  the  isthmus  which  connects  North  and  South  America,  and 
especially  to  the  interoceanic  communications,  should  the  same 
prove  to  be  practicable,  whether  by  canal  or  railway,  which  are 
now  proposed  to  be  established  by  the  way  of  Tehuantepec  or 
Panama.  In  granting,  however,  their  joint  protection  to  any  such 
canals  or  railways  as  are  by  this  article  specified,  it  is  always 
understood  by  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  that  the  parties 
constructing  or  owning  the  same  shall  impose  no  other  charges  or 
conditions  of  traffic  thereupon  than  the  aforesaid  Governments  shall 
approve  of  as  just  and  equitable  ;  and  that  the  same  canals  or  rail 
ways,  being  open  to  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  on  equal  terms,  shall  also  be  open  on  like  terms 
to  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  every  other  State  which  is  willing 
to  grant  thereto  such  protection  as  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  engage  to  afford. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

The  ratifications  of  this  convention  shall  be  exchanged  at  Wash 
ington  within  six  months  from  this  day,  or  sooner  if  possible. 

In  faith  whereof  we,  the  respective  Plenipotentiaries,  have  signed 
this  convention,  and  have  hereunto  affixed  our  seals. 

Done  at  Washington  the  nineteenth  day  of  April,  anno  Domini 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty. 

JOHN  M.  CLAYTON.  [L.S.] 

HENRY  LYTTON  BULWER.  [L.S.] 


378  COMPROMISE  OF   1850  [1850 


Compromise  of  1850 

AUGUST  8,  1846,  in  the  debate  in  the  House  on  the  bill  appropriating 
$2,000,000  to  purchase  territory  from  Mexico,  Wilmot  of  Pennsylvania 
moved  as  an  amendment  the  proviso  "  that,  as  an  express  and  fundamental 
condition  to  the  acquisition  of  any  territory  from  the  Republic  of  Mexico  by 
the  United  States,  by  virtue  of  any  treaty  which  may  be  negotiated  between 
them,  and  to  the  use  by  the  Executive  of  the  moneys  herein  appropriated, 
neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall  ever  exist  in  any  part  of  said 
territory,  excepFTxTr  "crime",  whereof  the"  party~5tiall  fJTsT'be  duly  convicted.'^ 
The  amendment  was  not  accepted,  and  later  attempts  to  engraft  the  proviso 
upon  bills  to  organize  the  Territory  of  Oregon  failed.  In  1848  a  bill  to 
organize  the  Territories  of  Oregon,  New  Mexico,  and  California,  with  a  pro 
vision  "  that  all  questions  concerning  slavery  in  those  Territories  should  be 
referred  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  for  decision,"  passed  the  Senate, 
but  failed  in  the  House.  The  act  of  Aug.  14,  1848,  organizing  the  Territory 
of  Oregon,  applied  to  the  new  Territory  the  provisions  of  the  articles  of  com 
pact  in  the  ordinance  of  1 787.  A  bill  to  establish  territorial  governments  in  New 
Mexico  and  California,  with  the  Wilmot  proviso,  passed  the  House  in  1849, 
but  was  not  acted  on  in  the  Senate.  Later  in  the  session,  the  Senate  attempted 
to  provide  for  the  organization  of  the  two  Territories  by  means  of  a  "rider" 
on  the  general  appropriation  bill,  but  the  attempt  was  defeated  in  the  House. 

In  May,  1848,  the  Democratic  National  Convention  had  rejected,  36  to  216, 
a  resolution  offered  by  Yancey  of  Alabama,  "  That  the  doctrine  of  non-inter 
ference  with  the  rights  of  property  of  any  portion  of  the  people  of  this  con 
federacy,  be  it  in  the  States  or  Territories  thereof,  by  any  other  than  the 
parties  interested  in  them,  is  the  true  republican  doctrine,  recognized  by  this 
body."  The  doctrine  of  "squatter  sovereignty"  embodied  in  this  resolution 
now  began  to  be  urged  in  opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Wilmot  proviso, 
and  the  issue  was  joined  on  the  question  of  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  new 
Territories,  or  allowing  the  people  of  each  Territory  to  establish  or  exclude 
slavery  as  they  might  see  fit. 

In  June,  1849,  the  people  of  California  adopted  a  State  constitution  pro 
hibiting  slavery.  In  his  annual  message  of  Dec.  4,  President  Taylor  recom 
mended  the  admission  of  California,  but  suggested  the  advisability  of  awaiting 
popular  action  in  New  Mexico  before  legislating  for  the  organization  of  that 
region.  January  29,  1850,  Clay  submitted  in  the  Senate  a  series  of  resolutions, 
intended  to  afford  a  basis  for  adjusting  the  differences  regarding  the  status  and 
treatment  of  slavery  in  the  Territories.  On  the  I3th  of  February  the  constitu 
tion  of  California  was  transmitted  to  Congress.  April  1 8,  by  a  vote  of  30  to 
22,  Clay's  resolutions  were  referred  to  a  select  committee  of  thirteen,  of  which 
Clay  was  chairman.  May  8  the  committee  submitted  its  report,  together  with 
two  bills,  one  to  admit  California  as  a  State,  to  establish  territorial  govern 
ments  for  Utah  and  New  Mexico,  and  making  proposals  to  Texas  for  the 
establishment  of  her  western  and  northern  boundaries,  and  the  other  to  sup 
press  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 


1850]  CLAY'S   RESOLUTIONS  379 

The  first  of  these  bills,  known  as  the  "  omnibus  bill,"  was  taken  up  in  the 
Senate  May  9.  June  17,  by  a  vote  of  38  to  12,  an  amendment  applying  to 
Utah  the  doctrine  of  "squatter  sovereignty"  was  agreed  to;  July  31  the  sec 
tions  relating  to  California,  New  Mexico,  and  Texas  were  stricken  out,  and 
Aug.  i  the  remainder  of  the  bill  passed  the  Senate  as  "  an  act  to  establish 
a  territorial  government  for  Utah."  The  House  passed  the  bill  Sept.  7,  by  a 
vote  of  97  to  85,  and  on  the  9th  the  act  was  approved.  A  bill  to  adjust  the 
Texan  boundary  passed  the  Senate  Aug.  10,  by  a  vote  of  30  to  20;  on  the 
1 5th  the  Senate  passed  the  New  Mexico  bill,  the  vote  being  27  to  10.  The 
House  added  the  New  Mexico  bill  to  the  Texas  bill  as  an  amendment,  and 
Sept.  6  passed  the  bill  in  this  form  by  a  vote  of  108  to  97.  The  Senate  con 
curred  in  the  House  amendment,  and  on  the  9th  the  act  was  approved.  The 
bill  to  admit  California  passed  the  Senate  Aug.  13,  34  to  18,  and  the  House 
Sept.  7,  150  to  56;  Sept.  9  the  act  was  approved.  The  fugitive  slave  bill 
passed  the  Senate  Aug.  26,  without  a  division,  the  vote  on  the  third  reading 
being  27  to  12;  the  House  passed  the  bill  Sept.  12,  without  debate,  by  a  vote 
of  109  to  76,  and  on  the  i8th  the  act  was  approved.  The  act  to  suppress  the 
slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  last  of  the  compromise  measures, 
passed  the  Senate  Sept.  16,  by  a  vote  of  33  to  19,  and  the  House  on  the  foU 
lowing  day,  by  a  vote  of  124  to  59;  on  the  2Oth  the  act  was  approved. 

REFERENCES. —The  text  is  indicated  at  the  end  of  each  of  the  extracts 
following.  For  the  proceedings  of  Congress,  see  the  House  and  Senate  Jour 
nals,  3ist  Cong.,  ist  Sess.;  for  the  discussions,  see  the  Cong.  Globe,  and 
appendix,  or  Benton's  Abridgment,  XVI.  A  large  number  of  memorials  and 
resolutions  are  collected  in  the  House  and  Senate  Misc.  Doc.  of  this  session; 
see  also  Senate  Rep.  12.  The  discussions  of  the  compromise  of  1850  are 
voluminous;  important  references,  besides  the  larger  general  histories,  are: 
Webster's  Works  (ed.  1857),  V.,  324-366,  373-405,  412-438;  Calhoun's 
Works  (ed.  1854),  IV.,  535-578;  Seward's  Works  (ed.  1853),  I.,  31-131; 
Pierce's  Suniner,  III.,  chaps.  34,  35;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  Vieiv,  II.,  chaps. 
182,  183,  186-197;  Curtis's  Webster,  II.,  chaps.  36,  37;  Curtis's  Buchanan, 
II.,  chap.  I;  Wm.  Jay's  Misc.  Writings  on  Slavery,  491-620;  Stephens's 
War  between  the  States,  II.,  176-240;  Wilson's  Slave  Power,  II.,  chaps.  20- 
24;  Davis's  Confederate  Government,  I.,  Appendix  C;  Johnston,  in  Lalor's 
Cyclopaedia,  I.,  552-554. 


No.  78.     Clay's  Resolutions 

January  29,  1850 

It  being  desirable,  for  the  peace,  concord,  and  harmony  of  the 
Union  of  these  States,  to  settle  and  adjust  amicably  all  existing 
questions  of  controversy  between  them  arising  out  of  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery  upon  a  fair,  equitable  and  just  basis  :,  therefore, 

i.  Resolved,  That  California,  with  suitable  boundaries,  ought, 
upon  her  application  to  be  admitted  as  one  of  the  States  of  this 


380  COMPROMISE   OF    1850  [Jan.  29 

Union,  without  the  imposition  by  Congress  of  any  restriction  in 
respect  to  the  exclusion  or  introduction  of  slavery  within  those 
boundaries. 

2.  Resolved,  That  as  slavery  does  not  exist  by  law,  and  is  not 
likely  to  be  introduced  into  any  of  the  territory  acquired  by  the 
United  States  from  the  republic  of  Mexico,  it  is  inexpedient  for 
Congress  to  provide  by  law  either  for   its   introduction  into,  or 
exclusion  from,  any  part  of  the  said  territory  ;  and  that  appropriate 
territorial  governments  ought  to  be  established  by  Congress  in  all 
of  the  said  territory,  not  assigned  as  the  boundaries  of  the  proposed 
State  of  California,  without  the  adoption  of  any  restriction  or  con 
dition  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  western  boundary  of  the  State  of  Texas 
ought  to  be  fixed  on  the  Rio  del  Norte,  commencing  one  marine 
league  from  its  mouth,  and  running  up  that  river  to  the  southern 
line  of  New  Mexico  ;  thence  with  that  line  eastwardly,  and  so  con 
tinuing  in  the  same  direction  to  the  line  as  established  between 
the  United  States  and  Spain,  excluding  any  portion  of  New  Mexico, 
whether  lying  on  the  east  or  west  of  that  river. 

4.  Resolved,  That  it  be  proposed  to  the  State  of  Texas,  that  the 
United  States  will  provide  for  the  payment  of  all  that  portion  of 
the  legitimate  and  bona  fide  public  debt  of  that  State  contracted 
prior  to  its  annexation  to  the  United  States,  and  for  which  the 
duties  on  foreign  imports  were  pledged  by  the  said  State  to  its 

creditors,  not  exceeding  the  sum  of  —  dollars,  in  consideration 

of  the  said  duties  so  pledged  having  been  no  longer  applicable  to 
that  object  after  the  said  annexation,  but  having  thenceforward 
become  payable  to  the  United  States;  and  upon  the  condition, 
also,   that  the  said  State   of  Texas    shall,  by  some   solemn  and 
authentic  act  of  her  legislature  or  of  a  convention,  relinquish  to 
the  United  States  any  claim  which  it  has  to  any  part  of  New 
Mexico. 

5.  Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  to   abolish   slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  whilst  that  institution  continues  to  exist  in 
the  State  of  Maryland,  without  the  consent  of  that  State,  without 
the  consent  of  the  people  of  the  District,  and  without  just  com 
pensation  to  the  owners  of  slaves  within  the  District. 

6.  But,  resolved,  That  it  is  expedient   to  prohibit,  within  the 
District,  the  slave  trade  in  slaves  brought  into  it  from  States  or 
places  beyond  the  limits  of  the  District,  either  to  be  sold  therein 


iS5o]  COMMITTEE  OF  THIRTEEN  381 

as  merchandise,  or  to  be  transported  to  other  markets  without 
the  District  of  Columbia. 

7.  Resolved,  That  more  effectual  provision  ought  to  be  made 
by  law,  according  to  the  requirement  of  the  constitution,  for  the 
restitution  and  delivery  of  persons  bound  to  service  or  labor  in 
a«y  State,  who  may  escape  into  any  other  State  or  Territory  in  the 
Union.     And, 

8.  Resolved,  That  Congress  has  no  power  to  prohibit  or  obstruct 
the  trade  in  slaves  between  the  slaveholding  States ;  but  that  the 
admission  or  exclusion  of  slaves  brought  from  one  into  another  of 
them,  depends  exclusively  upon  their  own  particular  laws. 

\_Senate  Jour.,  3ist  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  pp.  118,  119.] 


No.  79.     Extract  from  the  Report  of  the 
Committee  of  Thirteen 

May  8,  1850 

.  .  .  The  views  and  recommendations  contained  in  this  report 
may  be  recapitulated  in  a  few  words : 

1.  The  admission  of  any  new  State  or  States  formed  out  of 
Texas  to  be  postponed  until  they  shall  hereafter  present  them 
selves  to  be  received  into  the  Union,  when  it  will  be  the  duty  of 
Congress  fairly  and  faithfully  to  execute  the  compact  with  Texas 
by  admitting  such  new  State  or  States  • 

2.  The  admission  forthwith  of  California  into  the  Union,  with 
the  boundaries  which  she  has  proposed ; 

3.  The   establishment   of  territorial  governments,  without  the 
Wilmot   proviso,  for  New    Mexico  and  Utah,  embracing  all  the 
territory  recently  acquired  by  the  United  States  from  Mexico  not 
contained  in  the  boundaries  of  California ; 

4.  The  combination  of  these  two  last-mentioned  measures  in 
the  same  bill; 

5.  The  establishment  of  the  western  and  northern  boundary  of 
Texas,  and  the  exclusion  from  her  jurisdiction  of  all  New  Mexico, 
with  the  grant  to  Texas  of  a  pecuniary  equivalent ;  and  the  section 
for  that  purpose  to  be  incorporated  in  the  bill  admitting  California 
and  establishing  territoria)  governments  for  Utah  and  New  Mexico  ; 


382  COMPROMISE  OF   1850  [Sept.  9 

6.  More    effectual    enactments    of  law  to   secure   the   prompt 
delivery  of  persons  bound  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under 
the  laws  thereof,  who  escape  into  another  State ;  and, 

7.  Abstaining   from    abolishing   slavery ;    but,    under   a   heavy 
penalty,  prohibiting  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

If  such  of  these  several  measures  as  require  legislation  should  be 
carried  out  by  suitable  acts  of  Congress,  all  controversies  to  which 
our  late  territorial  acquisitions  have  given  rise,  and  all  existing 
questions  connected  with  the  institution  of  slavery,  whether  result 
ing  from  those  acquisitions  or  from  its  existence  in  the  States  and 
the  District  of  Columbia,  will  be  amicably  settled  and  adjusted,  in 
a  manner,  it  is  confidently  believed,  to  give  general  satisfaction  to 
an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
Congress  will  have  fulfilled  its  whole  duty  in  regard  to  the  vast 
country  which,  having  been  ceded  by  Mexico  to  the  United  States, 
has  fallen  under  their  dominion.  It  will  have  extended  to  it  pro 
tection,  provided  for  its  several  parts  the  inestimable  blessing  of 
free  and  regular  government  adapted  to  their  various  wants,  and 
placed  the  whole  under  the  banner  and  the  flag  of  the  United 
States.  Meeting  courageously  its  clear  and  entire  duty,  Congress 
will  escape  the  unmerited  reproach  of  having,  from  considerations 
of  doubtful  policy,  abandoned  to  an  undeserved  fate  territories  of 
boundless  extent,  with  a  sparse,  incongruous,  and  alien,  if  not 
unfriendly,  population,  speaking  different  languages,  and  accus 
tomed  to  different  laws,  whilst  that  population  is  making  irresistible 
appeals  to  the  new  sovereignty  to  which  they  have  been  transferred 
for  protection,  for  government,  for  law,  and  for  order.  .  .  . 

\_Senate  Rep.  123,  3ist  Cong.,  1st  Sess.,  p.  n.] 


No.   80.    Extract  from  the  Utah  Act 

September  g,  1850 
An  Act  to  establish  a  Territorial  Government  for  Utah. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  all  that  part 
of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  included  within  the  following 
limits,  to  wit :  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  State  of  California,  on 
the  north  by  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  and  on  the  east  by  the 


1850]  TEXAS   AND   NEW   MEXICO  ACT  383 

summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  on  the  south  by  the  thirty- 
seventh  parallel  of  north  latitude,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby, 
created  into  a  temporary  government,  by  the  name  of  the  Terri 
tory  of  Utah ;  and,  when  admitted  as  a  State,  the  said  Territory, 
or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be  received  into  the  Union,  with 
or  without  slavery,  as  their  constitution  may  prescribe  at  the  time 
of  their  admission  :  Provided,  That  nothing  in  this  act  contained 
shall  be  construed  to  inhibit  the  government  of  the  United  States 
from  dividing  said  Territory  into  two  or  more  Territories,  in  such 
manner  and  at  such  times  as  Congress  shall  deem  convenient  and 
proper,  or  from  attaching  any  portion  of  said  Territory  to  any 
other  State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States.  .  .  . 

[U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  IX.,  453.] 


No.    8 1 .     Extract    from    the    Texas   and    New 
Mexico  Act 

September  9,   1850 

An  Act  proposing  to  the  State  of  Texas  the  Establishment  of  her 
Northern  and  Western  Boundaries,  the  Relinquishment  by  the 
said  State  of  all  Territory  claimed  by  her  exterior  to  said  Boun 
daries,  and  of  all  her  claims  upon  the  United  States,  and  to 
establish  a  territorial  Government  for  New  Mexico. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  follow 
ing  propositions  shall  be,  and  the  same  hereby  are,  offered  to  the 
State  of  Texas,  which,  when  agreed  to  by  the  said  State,  in  an  act 
passed  by  the  general  assembly,  shall  be  binding  and  obligatory, 
upon  the  United  States,  and  upon  the  said  State  of  Texas  :  Pro 
vided,  The  said  agreement  by  the  said  general  assembly  shall  be 
given  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  December,  eighteen  hundred 
and  fifty : 

FIRST.  The  State  of  Texas  will  agree  that  her  boundary  on  the 
north  shall  commence  at  the  point  at  which  the  meridian  of  one 
hundred  degrees  west  from  Greenwich  is  intersected  by  the  par 
allel  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes  north  latitude,  and  shall 
run  from  said  point  due  west  to  the  meridian  of  one  hundred  and 
three  degrees  west  from  Greenwich ;  thence  her  boundary  shall 


384  COMPROMISE  OF   1850  [Sept.  9 

ran  due  south  to  the  thirty-second  degree  of  north  latitude ; 
thence  on  the  said  parallel  of  thirty-two  degrees  of  north  latitude 
to  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  and  thence  with  the  channel  of  said 
river  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

SECOND.  The  State  of  Texas  cedes  to  the  United  States  all  her 
claim  to  territory  exterior  to  the  limits  and  boundaries  which  she 
agrees  to  establish  by  the  first  article  of  this  agreement. 

THIRD.  The  State  of  Texas  relinquishes  all  claim  upon  the 
United  States  for  liability  of  the  debts  of  Texas,  and  for  compen 
sation  or  indemnity  for  the  surrender  to  the  United  States  of  her 
ships,  forts,  arsenals,  custom-houses,  custom-house  revenue,  arms 
and  munitions  of  war,  and  public  buildings  with  their  sites,  which 
became  the  property  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the 
annexation. 

FOURTH.  The  United  States,  in  consideration  of  said  estab 
lishment  of  boundaries,  cession  of  claim  to  territory,  and  relin- 
quishment  of  claims,  will  pay  to  the  State  of  Texas  the  sum  of  ten 
millions  of  dollars  in  a  stock  bearing  five  per  cent,  interest,  and 
redeemable  at  the  end  of  fourteen  years,  the  interest  payable  half- 
yearly  at  the  treasury  of  the  United  States. 

*********** 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  that  portion  of  the 
Territory  of  the  United  States  bounded  as  follows  :  Beginning  at 
a  point  in  the  Colorado  River  where  the  boundary  line  with  the 
republic  of  Mexico  crosses  the  same ;  thence  eastwardly  with  the 
said  boundary  line  to  the  Rio  Grande ;  thence  following  the  main 
channel  of  said  river  to  the  parallel  of  the  thirty-second  degree 
of  north  latitude ;  thence  east  with  said  degree  to  its  intersection 
with  the  one  hundred  and  third  degree  of  longitude  west  of 
Greenwich ;  thence  north  with  said  degree  of  longitude  to  the 
parallel  of  thirty-eighth  degree  of  north  latitude ;  thence  west 
with  said  parallel  to  the  summit  of  the  Sierra  Madre ;  thence 
south  with  the  crest  of  said  mountains  to  the  thirty-seventh  par 
allel  of  north  latitude ;  thence  west  with  said  parallel  to  its  inter 
section  with  the  boundary  line  of  the  State  of  California ;  thence 
with  said  boundary  line  to  the  place  of  beginning  —  be,  and  the 
same  is  hereby,  erected  into  a  temporary  government,  by  the  name 
of  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico  :  Provided,  That  nothing  in  this 
act  contained  shall  be  construed  to  inhibit  the  government  of  the 
United  States  from  dividing  said  Territory  into  two  or  more  Ter- 


1850]  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  ACT  385 

ritories,  in  such  manner  and  at  such  times  as  Congress  shall  deem 
convenient  and  proper,  or  from  attaching  any  portion  thereof  to 
any  other  Territory  or  State  :  And  provided,  further,  That,  when 
admitted  as  a  State,  the  said  Territory,  or  any  portion  of  the 
same,  shall  be  received  into  the  Union,  with  or  without  slavery, 
as  their  constitution  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  their  admission. 

[  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  IX.,  446,  447.] 


No.  82.      Fugitive  Slave  Act 

September  18,  1850 

An  Act  to  amend,  and  supplementary  to,  the  Act  entitled  ((An  Act 
respecting  Fugitives  from  Jtistice,  and  Persons  escaping  from  the 
Service  of  their  Masters,"  approved  February  tivelfth,  one  thou 
sand  seven  hundred  and  ninety- three. 

[Sections  1-4  relate  to  the  appointment  of  commissioners,  hav 
ing  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  judges  of  the  circuit  and  dis 
trict  courts  of  the  United  States,  and  the  superior  courts  of  the 
territories,  to  perform  the  duties  specified  in  the  act.] 

SEC.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
all  marshals  and  deputy  marshals  to  obey  and  execute  all  warrants 
and  precepts  issued  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  when  to 
them  directed ;  and  should  any  marshal  or  deputy  marshal  refuse 
to  receive  such  warrant,  or  other  process,  when  tendered,  or  to 
use  all  proper  means  diligently  to  execute  the  same,  he  shall,  on 
conviction  thereof,  be  fined  in  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars, 
to  the  use  of  such  claimant,  on  the  motion  of  such  claimant,  by 
the  Circuit  or  District  Court  for  the  district  of  such  marshal ;  and 
after  arrest  of  such  fugitive,  by  such  marshal  or  his  deputy,  or  whilst 
at  any  time  in  his  custody  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  should 
such  fugitive  escape,  whether  with  or  without  the  assent  of  such 
marshal  or  his  deputy,  such  marshal  shall  be  liable,  on  his  official 
bond,  to  be  prosecuted  for  the  benefit  of  such  claimant,  for  the 
full  value  of  the  service  or  labor  of  said  fugitive  in  the  State, 
Territory,  or  District  whence  he  escaped  :  and  the  better  to 
enable  the  said  commissioners,  when  thus  appointed,  to  execute 
their  duties  faithfully  and  efficiently,  in  conformity  with  the 
requirements  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  of  this 

2C 


386  COMPROMISE  OF   1850  [Sept.  18 

act,  they  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered,  within  their 
counties  respectively,  to  appoint,  in  writing  under  their  hands, 
any  one  or  more  suitable  persons,  from  time  to  time,  to  execute 
all  such  warrants  and  other  process  as  may  be  issued  by  them  in 
the  lawful  performance  of  their  respective  duties ;  with  authority 
to  such  commissioners,  or  the  persons  to  be  appointed  by  them, 
to  execute  process  as  aforesaid,  to  summon  and  call  to  their  aid 
the  bystanders,  or  posse  comitatus  of  the  proper  county,  when 
necessary  to  ensure  a  faithful  observance  of  the  clause  of  the 
Constitution  referred  to,  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  ,of  this 
act ;  and  all  good  citizens  are  hereby  commanded  to  aid  and 
assist  in  the  prompt  and  efficient  execution  of  this  law,  whenever 
their  services  may  be  required,  as  aforesaid,  for  that  purpose ; 
and  said  warrants  shall  run,  and  be  executed  by  said  officers, 
any  where  in  the  State  within  which  they  are  issued. 

SEC.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  when  a  person  held  to 
service  or  labor  in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States, 
has  heretofore  or  shall  hereafter  escape  into  another  State  or 
Territory  of  the  United  States,  the  person  or  persons  to  whom 
such  service  or  labor  may  be  due,  or  his,  her,  or  their  agent 
or  attorney,  duly  authorized,  by  power  of  attorney,  in  writing, 
acknowledged  and  certified  under  the  seal  of  some  legal  officer  or 
court  of  the  State  or  Territory  in  which  the  same  may  be  exe 
cuted,  may  pursue  and  reclaim  such  fugitive  person,  either  by 
procuring  a  warrant  from  some  one  of  the  courts,  judges,  or  com 
missioners  aforesaid,  of  the  proper  circuit,  district,  or  county,  for 
the  apprehension  of  such  fugitive  from  service  or  labor,  or  by 
seizing  and  arresting  such  fugitive,  where  the  same  can  be  done 
without  process,  and  by  taking,  or  causing  such  person  to  be 
taken,  forthwith  before  such  court,  judge,  or  commissioner,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  hear  and  determine  the  case  of  such  claimant 
in  a  summary  manner ;  and  upon  satisfactory  proof  being  made, 
by  deposition  or  affidavit,  in  writing,  to  be  taken  and  certified  by 
such  court,  judge,  or  commissioner,  or  by  other  satisfactory  testi 
mony,  duly  taken  and  certified  by  some  court,  magistrate,  justice 
of  the  peace,  or  other  legal  officer  authorized  to  administer  an 
oath  and  take  depositions  under  the  laws  of  the  State  or  Territory 
from  which  such  person  owing  service  or  labor  may  have  escaped, 
with  a  certificate  of  such  magistracy  or  other  authority,  as  afore 
said,  with  the  seal  of  the  proper  court  or  officer  thereto  attached, 


1850]  FUGITIVE   SLAVE  ACT  387 

which  seal  shall  be  sufficient  to  establish  the  competency  of  the 
proof,  and  with  proof,  also  by  affidavit,  of  the  identity  of  the 
person  whose  service  or  labor  is  claimed  to  be  due  as  aforesaid, 
that  the  person  so  arrested  does  in  fact  owe  service  or  labor  to 
the  person  or  persons  claiming  him  or  her,  in  the  State  or  Terri 
tory  from  which  such  fugitive  may  have  escaped  as  aforesaid,  and 
that  said  person  escaped,  to  make  out  and  deliver  to  such  claim 
ant,  his  or  her  agent  or  attorney,  a  certificate  setting  forth  the 
substantial  facts  as  to  the  service  or  labor  due  from  such  fugitive 
to  the  claimant,  and  of  his  or  her  escape  from  the  State  or  Terri 
tory  in  which  he  or  she  was  arrested,  with  authority  to  such 
claimant,  or  his  or  her  agent  or  attorney,  to  use  such  reasonable 
force  and  restraint  as  may  be  necessary,  under  the  circumstances 
of  the  case,  to  take  and  remove  such  fugitive  person  back  to  the 
State  or  Territory  whence  he  or  she  may  have  escaped  as  afore 
said.  In  no  trial  or  hearing  under  this  act  shall  the  testimony  of 
such  alleged  fugitive  be  admitted  in  evidence  ;  and  the  certificates 
in  this  and  the  first  [fourth]  section  mentioned,  shall  be  conclu 
sive  of  the  right  of  the  person  or  persons  in  whose  favor  granted, 
to  remove  such  fugitive  to  the  State  or  Territory  from  which  he 
escaped,  and  shall  prevent  all  molestation  of  such  person  or  per 
sons  by  any  process  issued  by  any  court,  judge,  magistrate,  or 
other  person  whomsoever. 

SEC.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  any  person  who  shall 
knowingly  and  willingly  obstruct,  hinder,  or  prevent  such  claimant, 
his  agent  or  attorney,  or  any  person  or  persons  lawfully  assisting 
him,  her,  or  them,  from  arresting  such  a  fugitive  from  service  or 
labor,  either  with  or  without  process  as  aforesaid,  or  shall  rescue, 
or  attempt  to  rescue,  such  fugitive  from  service  or  labor,  from  the 
custody  of  such  claimant,  his  or  her  agent  or  attorney,  or  other 
person  or  persons  lawfully  assisting  as  aforesaid,  when  so  arrested, 
pursuant  to  the  authority  herein  given  and  declared ;  or  shall  aid, 
abet,  or  assist  such  person  so  owing  service  or  labor  as  aforesaid, 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  escape  from  such  claimant,  his  agent  or 
attorney,  or  other  person  or  persons  legally  authorized  as  afore 
said  ;  or  shall  harbor  or  conceal  such  fugitive,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
discovery  and  arrest  of  such  person,  after  notice  or  knowledge  of 
the  fact  that  such  person  was  a  fugitive  from  service  or  labor  as 
aforesaid,  shall,  for  either  of  said  offences,  be  subject  to  a  fine  not 
exceeding  one  thousand  dollars,  and  imprisonment  not  exceeding 


388  COMPROMISE  OF   1850  [Sept.  18 

six  months,  by  indictment  and  conviction  before  the  District  Court 
of  the  United  States  for  the  district  in  which  such  offence  may 
have  been  committed,  or  before  the  proper  court  of  criminal  juris 
diction,  if  committed  within  any  one  of  the  organized  Territories 
of  the  United  States  ;  and  shall  moreover  forfeit  and  pay,  by  way 
of  civil  damages  to  the  party  injured  by  such  illegal  conduct,  the 
sum  of  one  thousand  dollars,  for  each  fugitive  so  lost  as  aforesaid, 
to  be  recovered  by  action  of  debt,  in  any  of  the  District  or  Terri 
torial  Courts  aforesaid,  within  whose  jurisdiction  the  said  offence 
may  have  been  committed. 

[Sec.  8  relates  to  fees  for  services  under  the  act.] 
SEC.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  upon  affidavit  made 
by  the  claimant  of  such  fugitive,  his  agent  or  attorney,  after  such 
certificate  has  been  issued,  that  he  has  reason  to  apprehend  that 
such  fugitive  will  be  rescued  by  force  from  his  or  their  possession 
before  he  can  be  taken  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State  in  which 
the  arrest  is  made,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  officer  making  the 
arrest  to  retain  such  fugitive  in  his  custody,  and  to  remove  him  to 
the  State  whence  he  fled,  and  there  to  deliver  him  to  said  claim 
ant,  his  agent,  or  attorney.  And  to  this  end,  the  officer  aforesaid 
is  hereby  authorized  and  required  to  employ  so  many  persons  as 
he  may  deem  necessary  to  overcome  such  force,  and  to  retain 
them  in  his  service  so  long  as  circumstances  may  require.  The 
said  officer  and  his  assistants,  while  so  employed,  to  receive  the 
same  compensation,  and  to  be  allowed  the  same  expenses,  as  are 
now  allowed  by  law  for  transportation  of  criminals,  to  be  certified 
by  the  judge  of  the  district  within  which  the  arrest  is  made,  and 
paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States. 

SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  when  any  person  held 
to  service  or  labor  in  any  State  or  Territory,  or  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  shall  escape  therefrom,  the  party  to  whom  such  service 
or  labor  shall  be  due,  his,  her,  or  their  agent  or  attorney,  may 
apply  to  any  court  of  record  therein,  or  judge  thereof  in  vacation, 
and  make  satisfactory  proof  to  such  court,  or  judge  in  vacation,  of 
the  escape  aforesaid,  and  that  the  person  escaping  owed  service 
or  labor  to  such  party.  Whereupon  the  court  shall  cause  a  record 
to  be  made  of  the  matters  so  proved,  and  also  a  general  descrip 
tion  of  the  person  so  escaping,  with  such  convenient  certainty  as 
may  be ;  and  a  transcript  of  such  record,  authenticated  by  the 
attestation  of  the  clerk  and  of  the  seal  of  the  said  court,  being 


1850]  SLAVE  TRADE  IN   DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA  389 

produced  in  any  other  State,  Territory,  or  district  in  which  the 
person  so  escaping  may  be  found,  and  being  exhibited  to  any 
judge,  commissioner,  or  other  officer  authorized  by  the  law  of  the 
United  States  to  cause  persons  escaping  from  service  or  labor  to 
be  delivered  up,  shall  be  held  and  taken  to  be  full  and  conclusive 
evidence  of  the  fact  of  escape,  and  that  the  service  or  labor  of  the 
person  escaping  is  due  to  the  party  in  such  record  mentioned. 
And  upon  the  production  by  the  said  party  of  other  and  further 
evidence  if  necessary,  either  oral  or  by  affidavit,  in  addition  to 
what  is  contained  in  the  said  record  of  the  identity  of  the  person 
escaping,  he  or  she  shall  be  delivered  up  to  the  claimant.  And 
the  said  court,  commissioner,  judge,  or  other  person  authorized 
by  this  act  to  grant  certificates  to  claimants  of  fugitives,  shall, 
upon  the  production  of  the  record  and  other  evidences  aforesaid, 
grant  to  such  claimant  a  certificate  of  his  right  to  take  any  such 
person  identified  and  proved  to  be  owing  service  or  labor  as 
aforesaid,  which  certificate  shall  authorize  such  claimant  to  seize 
or  arrest  and  transport  such  person  to  the  State  or  Territory  from 
which  he  escaped :  Provided,  That  nothing  herein  contained  shall 
be  construed  as  requiring  the  production  of  a  transcript  of  such 
record  as  evidence  as  aforesaid.  But  in  its  absence  the  claim 
shall  be  heard  and  determined  upon  other  satisfactory  proofs, 
competent  in  law. 

[£/.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  IX.,  462-465.] 


No.    83.    Act    abolishing    the    Slave    Trade    in 
the  District  of  Columbia 

September  20,  1850 
An  Act  to  suppress  the  Slave  Trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  from  and 
after  the  first  day  of  January,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-one,  it 
shall  not  be  lawful  to  bring  into  the  District  of  Columbia  any  slave 
whatever,  for  the  purpose  of  being  sold,  or  for  the  purpose  of 
being  placed  in  depot,  to  be  subsequently  transferred  to  any 
other  State  or  place  to  be  sold  as  merchandize.  And  if  any  slave 
shall  be  brought  into  the  said  District  by  its  owner,  or  by  the 


39O  GADSDEN  TREATY  [Dec.  30 

authority  or  consent  of  its  owner,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  such  slave  shall  thereupon  become  liberated  and  free. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  and  maybe 
lawful  for  each  of  the  corporations  of  the  cities  of  Washington  and 
Georgetown,  from  time  to  time,  and  as  often  as  may  be  necessary, 
to  abate,  break  up,  and  abolish  any  depot  or  place  of  confinement 
of  slaves  brought  into  the  said  District  as  merchandize,  contrary 
to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  by  such  appropriate  means  as  may 
appear  to  either  of  the  said  corporations  expedient  and  proper. 
And  the  same  power  is  hereby  vested  in  the  Levy  Court  of  Wash 
ington  county,  if  any  attempt  shall  be  made,  within  its  jurisdic- 
tional  limits,  to  establish  a  depot  or  place  of  confinement  for 
slaves  brought  into  the  said  District  as  merchandize  for  sale  con 
trary  to  this  act. 

[£/.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  IX.,  467,  468.] 


No.   84.     Treaty  with  Mexico 

December  30,   1853 

THE  interest  of  the  United  States  in  a  transportation  route  across  the  isth 
mus  of  Tehuantepec  occasioned  extended  diplomatic  correspondence  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico.  In  addition,  the  running  of  the  boundary 
line  under  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  had  been  attended  with  difficul 
ties.  Both  questions  were  dealt  with  in  the  treaty  of  Dec.  30,  1853,  usually 
known  as  the  Gadsden  treaty.  The  ratifications  were  exchanged  at  Washing 
ton  June  30,  1854.  The  area  acquired  from  Mexico  was  45,535  square  miles. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Revised  Statutes  relating  to  District  of  Columbia, 
etc.  (ed.  1875),  5°3~5°6-  The  diplomatic  correspondence  is  in  Senate  Doc.  97, 
32d  Cong.,  ist  Sess.  On  the  question  of  boundary,  see  Senate  Doc.  34,  3ist 
Cong.,  ist  Sess.;  Senate  Doc.  7/9,  120, 121,  131,  32d  Cong.,  ist  Sess.;  Senate 
Rep.,  343,  32d  Cong.,  ist  Sess.;  Senate  Doc.  55,  33d  Cong.,  2d  Sess.;  Senate 
Doc.  57,  34th  Cong.,  ist  Sess. 

In  the  name  of  Almighty  God. 

The  Republic  of  Mexico  and  the  United  States  of  America, 
desiring  to  remove  every  cause  of  disagreement  which  might  inter 
fere  in  any  manner  with  the  better  friendship  and  intercourse 
between  the  two  countries,  and  especially  in  respect  to  the  true 
limits  which  should  be  established,  when,  notwithstanding  what 
was  covenanted  in  the  treaty  of  Gaudalupe  Hidalgo  in  the  year 
1848,  opposite  interpretations  have  been  urged,  which  might  give 


1853]  GADSDEN  TREATY  391 

occasion  to  questions  of  serious  moment :  To  avoid  these,  and  to 
strengthen  and  more  firmly  maintain  the  peace  which  happily 
prevails  between  the  two  republics,  the  President  of  the  United 
States  has,  for  this  purpose,  appointed  James  Gadsden,  Envoy 
Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  same  near  the 
Mexican  Government,  and  the  President  of  Mexico  has  appointed 
as  Plenipotentiary  "  ad  hoc  "  his  excellency  Don  Manuel  Diez  de 
Bonilla,  cavalier  grand  cross  of  the  national  and  distinguished 
order  of  Guadalupe,  and  Secretary  of  State  and  of  the  office  of 
Foreign  Relations,  and  Don  Jos£  Salazar  Ylarregui  and  General 
Mariano  Monterde,  as  scientific  commissioners,  invested  with  full 
powers  for  this  negotiation ;  who,  having  communicated  their 
respective  full  powers,  and  finding  them  in  due  and  proper  form, 
have  agreed  upon  the  articles  following : 

ARTICLE  I. 

The  Mexican  Republic  agrees  to  designate  the  following  as  her 
true  limits  with  the  United  States  for  the  future  :  Retaining  the 
same  dividing  line  between  the  two  Californias  as  already  defined 
and  established,  according  to  the  5th  article  of  the  treaty  of 
Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  the  limits  between  the  two  republics  shall  be 
as  follows :  Beginning  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  three  leagues  from 
land,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  as  provided  in  the 
fifth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  ;  thence,  as  defined 
in  the  said  article,  up  the  middle  of  that  river  to  the  point  where 
the  parallel  of  31°  47'  north  latitude  crosses  the  same;  thence 
due  west  one  hundred  miles ;  thence  south  to  the  parallel  of 
31°  20'  north  latitude;  thence  along  the  said  parallel  of  31°  20' 
to  the  i nth  meridian  of  longitude  west  of  Greenwich;  thence  in 
a  straight  line  to  a  point  on  the  Colorado  River  twenty  English 
miles  below  the  junction  of  the  Gila  and  Colorado  Rivers  ;  thence 
up  the  middle  of  the  said  river  Colorado  until  it  intersects  the 
present  line  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico. 

[Commissioners  to  be  appointed  to  survey  and  mark  the 
boundary.] 

The  dividing  line  thus  established  shall,  in  all  time,  be  faithfully 
respected  by  the  two  Governments,  without  any  variation  therein, 
unless  of  the  express  and  free  consent  of  the  two,  given  in  con 
formity  to  the  principles  of  the  law  of  nations,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  constitution  of  each  country,  respectively. 


392  GADSDEN  TREATY  [Dec.  30 

In  consequence,  the  stipulation  in  the  5th  article  of  the  treaty 
of  Guadalupe  upon  the  boundary  line  therein  described  is  no 
longer  of  any  force,  wherein  it  may  conflict  with  that  here  estab 
lished,  the  said  line  being  considered  annulled  and  abolished 
wherever  it  may  not  coincide  with  the  present,  and  in  the  same 
manner  remaining  in  full  force  where  in  accordance  with  the 
same. 

ARTICLE  II. 

The  Government  of  Mexico  hereby  releases  the  United  States 
from  all  liability  on  account  of  the  obligations  contained  in  the 
eleventh  article  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  ;  and  the  said 
article  and  the  thirty-third  article  of  the  treaty  of  amity,  commerce, 
and  navigation  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the 
United  Mexican  States,  concluded  at  Mexico  on  the  fifth  day  of 
April,  1831,  are  hereby  abrogated. 

ARTICLE  III. 

In  consideration  of  the  foregoing  stipulations,  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  agrees  to  pay  to  the  Government  of  Mexico, 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  the  sum  of  ten  millions  of  dollars,  of 
which  seven  millions  shall  be  paid  immediately  upon  the  exchange 
of  the  ratifications  of  this  treaty,  and  the  remaining  three  millions 
as  soon  as  the  boundary  line  shall  be  surveyed,  marked,  and 
established.* 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  provisions  of  the  6th  and  yth  articles  of  the  treaty  of 
Guadalupe  Hidalgo  having  been  rendered  nugatory  for  the  most 
part  by  the  cession  of  territory  granted  in  the  first  article  of  this 
treaty,  the  said  articles  are  hereby  abrogated  and  annulled,  and 
the  provisions  as  herein  expressed  substituted  therefor.  The 
vessels  and  citizens  of  the  United  States  shall  in  all  time,  have 
free  and  uninterrupted  passage  through  the  Gulf  of  California,  to 
and  from  their  possessions  situated  north  of  the  boundary  line 
of  the  two  countries.  It  being  understood  that  this  passage  is  to 
be  by  navigating  the  Gulf  of  California  and  the  river  Colorado, 
and  not  by  land,  without  the  express  consent  of  the  Mexican 
Government ;  and  precisely  the  same  provisions,  stipulations,  and 
restrictions,  in  all  respects,  are  hereby  agreed  upon  and  adopted, 

*  The  appropriation  was  made  by  act  of  June  29,  1854.  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large, 
X.,  301.— ED. 


1853]  GADSDEN  TREATY  393 

and  shall  be  scrupulously  observed  and  enforced,  by  the  two 
contracting  Governments,  in  reference  to  the  Rio  Colorado,  so 
far  and  for  such  distance  as  the  middle  of  that  river  is  made  their 
common  boundary  line  by  the  first  article  of  this  treaty. 

The  several  provisions,  stipulations,  and  restrictions  contained  in 
the  yth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  shall  remain 
in  force  only  so  far  as  regards  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  below  the 
initial  of  the  said  boundary  provided  in  the  first  article  of  this 
treaty;  that  is  to  say,  below  the  intersection  of  the  31°  47'  30" 
parallel  of  latitude,  with  the  boundary  line  established  by  the  late 
treaty  dividing  said  river  from  its  mouth  upwards,  according  to 
the  5th  article  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe. 

ARTICLE  V. 

"  All  the  provisions  of  the  eighth  and  ninth,  sixteenth  and  seven 
teenth  articles  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  shall  apply  to 
the  territory  ceded  by  the  Mexican  Republic  in  the  first  article 
of  the  present  treaty,  and  to  all  the  rights  of  persons  and  property, 
both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  within  the  same,  as  fully  and  as  effectu 
ally  as  if  the  said  articles  were  herein  again  recited  and  set  forth. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

No  grants  of  land  within  the  territory  ceded  by  the  first  article 
of  this  treaty  bearing  date  subsequent  to  the  day — twenty-fifth  of 
September  —  when  the  Minister  and  subscriber  to  this  treaty  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  proposed  to  the  Government  of 
Mexico  to  terminate  the  question  of  boundary,  will  be  considered 
valid  or  be  recognized  by  the  United  States,  or  will  any  grants 
made  previously  be  respected  or  be  considered  as  obligatory 
which  have  not  been  located  and  duly  recorded  in  the  archives 
of  Mexico. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

Should  there  at  any  future  period  (which  God  forbid)  occur 
any  disagreement  between  the  two  nations  which  might  lead  to  a 
rupture  of  their  relations  and  reciprocal  peace,  they  bind  them 
selves  in  like  manner  to  procure  by  every  possible  method  the 
adjustment  of  every  difference ;  and  should  they  still  in  this  manner 
not  succeed,  never  will  they  proceed  to  a  declaration  of  war  with 
out  having  previously  paid  attention  to  what  has  been  set  forth 


394  GADSDEN  TREATY  [Dec.  30 

in  article  2 1  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  for  similar  cases ;  which 
article,  as  well  as  the  220!,  is  here  re-affirmed. 


ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  Mexican  Government  having  on  the  5th  of  February,  1853, 
authorized  the  early  construction  of  a  plank  and  rail  road  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  and,  to  secure  the  stable  benefits  of 
said  transit  way  to  the  persons  and  merchandize  of  the  citizens 
of  Mexico  and  the  United  States,  it  is  stipulated  that  neither 
Government  will  interpose  any  obstacle  to  the  transit  of  persons 
and  merchandize  of  both  nations ;  and  at  no  time  shall  higher 
charges  be  made  on  the  transit  of  persons  and  property  of  citizens 
of  the  United  States  than  may  be  made  on  the  persons  and  prop 
erty  of  other  foreign  nations,  nor  shall  any  interest  in  said  transit 
way,  nor  in  the  proceeds  thereof,  be  transferred  to  any  foreign 
government. 

The  United  States,  by  its  agents,  shall  have  the  right  to  trans 
port  across  the  isthmus,  in  closed  bags,  the  mails  of  the  United 
States  not  intended  for  distribution  along  the  line  of  communica 
tion  ;  also  the  effects  of  the  United  States  Government  and  its 
citizens,  which  may  be  intended  for  transit,  and  not  for  distribution 
on  the  isthmus,  free  of  custom-house  or  other  charges  by  the 
Mexican  Government.  Neither  passports  nor  letters  of  security 
will  be  required  of  persons  crossing  the  isthmus  and  not  remaining 
in  the  country. 

When  the  construction  of  the  railroad  shall  be  completed,  the 
Mexican  Government  agrees  to  open  a  port  of  entry  in  addition 
to  the  port  of  Vera  Cruz,  at  or  near  the  terminus  of  said  road  on 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  two  Governments  will  enter  into  arrangements  for  the 
prompt  transit  of  troops  and  munitions  of  the  United  States, 
which  that  Government  may  have  occasion  to  send  from  one 
part  of  its  territory  to  another,  lying  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
continent. 

The  Mexican  Government  having  agreed  to  protect  with  its 
whole  power  the  prosecution,  preservation,  and  security  of  the 
work,  the  United  States  may  extend  its  protection  as  it  shall  judge 
wise  to  it  when  it  may  feel  sanctioned  and  warranted  by  the  public 
or  international  law. 


1853]  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  ACT  395 

ARTICLE  IX. 

This  treaty  shall  be  ratified,  and  the  respective  ratifications 
shall  be  exchanged  at  the  city  of  Washington  within  the  exact 
period  of  six  months  from  the  date  of  its  signature,  or  sooner  if 
possible. 

In  testimony  whereof  we,  the  Plenipotentiaries  of  the  contract 
ing  parties,  have  hereunto  affixed  our  hands  and  seals  at  Mexico, 
the  thirtieth  Qoth)  day  of  December,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-three,  in  the  thirty-third  year 
of  the  Independence  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  and  the  seventy- 
eighth  of  that  of  the  United  States. 

JAMES  GADSDEN.  [L.S.] 

MANUEL  DIEZ  DE  BONILLA.  [L.S.] 
JOSE  SALAZAR  YLARREGUI.  [L.S.] 
J.  MARIANO  MONTERDE.  [L.S.] 


Kansas-Nebraska  Act 
1854 

THE  first  suggestion  of  a  territorial  organization  for  the  region  between  the 
western  boundary  of  Missouri  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which  had  been  left 
without  organization  upon  the  admission  of  Missouri  in  1821,  seems  to  have 
been  made  in  1844,  when  Wilkins,  Secretary  of  War,  proposed  the  formation 
of  Nebraska  Territory,  as  preliminary  to  the  extension  of  military  posts  in 
that  direction.  A  bill  to  establish  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  was  introduced 
in  the  House  Dec.  17,  1844,  D7  Douglas  of  Illinois,  but  no  action  was  taken. 
A  bill  with  the  same  object,  brought  in  March  15,  1848,  by  Douglas,  now  a 
member  of  the  Senate,  likewise  came  to  nothing.  A  bill  to  attach  Nebraska 
to  the  surveying  district  of  Arkansas,  introduced  in  the  Senate  July  28,  1848, 
stopped  with  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands.  A  third  bill  to  organize  the 
Territory  of  Nebraska,  also  introduced  by  Douglas,  was  considered  by  the 
Senate  Dec.  20,  1848,  and  recommitted. 

December  13,  1852,  Hall  of  Missouri  introduced  in  the  House  a  bill  to 
organize  the  Territory  of  Platte.  The  bill  went  to  the  Committee  on  Territories, 
and  as  such  was  not  reported.  February  2,  1853,  however,  Richardson  of  Illi 
nois  reported  from  the  committee  a  bill  to  organize  the  Territory  of  Nebraska, 
which  passed  the  House  Feb.  10,  by  a  vote  of  98  to  43.  The  Senate  Com 
mittee  on  Territories  reported  the  bill  on  the  iyth,  without  amendments; 
March  4,  by  a  vote  of  23  to  17,  consideration  was  refused.  This  bill  did  not 
propose  to  legislate  slavery  into  the  new  territory.  "  The  opposition  to  it 
came  from  Southern  members  who  were  preparing,  but  were  not  yet  ready  to 


396  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  ACT  [1854 

announce,  their  next  advanced  claim,  that  the  compromise  of  1850  had  super 
seded  and  voided  that  of  1820,  abolished  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the 
territory  north  of  the  Missouri  compromise  line,  and  opened  it  to  the  operation 
of  squatter  sovereignty"  (Johnston). 

The  thirty-third  Congress  met  Dec.  5,  1853.  December  14  Senator  Dodge 
of  Iowa  introduced  a  bill  to  organize  the  Territory  of  Nebraska.  The  bill, 
which  appears  to  have  been  identical  with  Richardson's  bill  of  the  previous 
session,  provided  for  the  organization  of  the  whole  region  between  the  parallels 
of  36°  30'  and  43°  30'  on  the  south  and  north,  Missouri  and  Iowa  on  the  east, 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west.  A  substitute  for  this  bill,  with  the  same 
provision  as  to  slavery  as  that  which  had  been  inserted  in  the  Utah  and  New 
Mexico  bills,  was  reported  by  Douglas,  from  the  Committee  on  Territories, 
Jan.  4,  1854.  The  declaration  regarding  slavery  was  satisfactory  to  neither 
party,  and  on  the  i6th  Dixon  of  Kentucky  gave  notice  of  an  amendment 
explicitly  exempting  the  proposed  territory  from  the  operation  of  the  Missouri 
compromise,  to  which  Sumner  of  Massachusetts  responded  with  an  amendment 
extending  the  Missouri  compromise  to  the  new  territory.  On  the  23d  Douglas 
reported  that  the  committee  had  prepared  several  new  amendments  to  the 
bill,  changing  the  southern  boundary  from  36°  30'  to  37°,  providing  for  two 
territories  instead  of  one,  and  declaring  the  Missouri  compromise  inoperative 
in  the  new  territories,  on  the  ground  that  it  had  been  superseded  by  the  com 
promise  measures  of  1850.  The  bill  as  thus  amended  Douglas  proposed  to 
substitute  for  the  bill  previously  reported.  Debate  in  Committee  of  the  Whole 
began  Jan.  30.  February  6  Douglas  offered  an  amendment  by  which  the 
Missouri  compromise  was  to  be  declared  "  inconsistent "  with  the  legislation 
of  1850,  following  this  the  next  day  with  another  amendment  in  the  words  of 
sec.  14  of  the  act  as  finally  passed.  This  last  amendment  was  agreed  to  on 
the  1 5th,  by  a  vote  of  35  to  10.  March  4  the  bill  passed  the  Senate,  after  an 
all-night  session,  by  a  vote  of  37  to  14. 

In  the  meantime  Representative  Miller  of  Missouri  had  introduced  in  the 
House,  Dec.  22,  a  bill  to  organize  the  Territory  of  Nebraska.  The  bill  went 
to  the  Committee  on  Territories,  from  which  Richardson  reported,  Jan.  31,  a 
bill  to  organize  the  Territories  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas.  A  minority  report, 
advocating  the  application  of  squatter  sovereignty  to  the  two  territories,  was 
submitted  by  English  of  Indiana.  The  House  bill  did  not  regularly  come  up 
for  consideration  until  May  8,  but  from  Feb.  14  to  April  28  either  the  House 
or  Senate  bill,  and  the  general  subject  of  territorial  governments  for  Kansas 
and  Nebraska,  were  discussed  almost  daily,  regardless  of  the  business  nomi 
nally  before  the  House.  March  21  the  Senate  bill  was  disposed  of  by  referring 
it  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  and  was  not  again  considered.  May  8 
Richardson  called  up  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  thirty  bills  and  resolutions 
being  successively  laid  aside  until  the  bill  was  reached.  The  debate  continued 
with  increasing  violence  until  the  22d,  when,  by  a  vote  of  113  to  100,  the 
House  passed  the  bill  with  amendments.  Douglas  championed  the  bill  in  the 
Senate,  where  the  debate  was  attended  with  intense  excitement  and  frequent 
disorder.  The  bill  passed  the  Senate  May  26,  without  a  division,  and  on  the 
3Oth  the  act  was  approved. 

The  form  of  government  provided  by  the  act  did  not  differ  essentially  from 


1854]  DOUGLAS'S   REPORT  397 

that  contained  in  other  territorial  acts.  The  extracts  from  the  act  following 
are  limited  to  the  sections  defining  the  boundaries  of  the  two  territories,  and 
the  status  of  slavery. 

REFERENCES.  —  The  text  is  indicated  in  connection  with  each  extract,  fol 
lowing.  The  House  and  Senate  Journals,  33d  Cong.,  1st  Sess.,  give  the  record 
of  proceedings;  both  proceedings  and  debates  are  reported  at  length  in  the 
Cong.  Globe,  and  appendix.  Von  Hoist's  United  States,  IV.,  chaps.  6-8,  and 
Rhodes's  United  States,  I.,  chap.  5,  are  the  most  important  general  accounts. 
Other  important  references  are:  Pierce's  Sumner,  III.,  chap.  38;  Wm.  Lloyd 
Garrison:  Story  of  his  Life  told  by  his  Children,  III.,  chap.  14;  Greeley's 
Amer.  Conflict,  I.,  chap.  17;  Stephens's  War  between  the  States,  II.,  241-257; 
Davis's  Confederate  Government,  I.,  chap.  5;  Johnston,  in  Lalor^s  Cyclopaedia, 
II.,  667-670. 


No.  85.     Douglas's  Report 

January  4,  1854 
Mr.  DOUGLAS  made  the  following 

REPORT. 
[To  accompany  bill  S.  22.] 

The  Committee  on  Territories,  to  which  was  referred  a  bill  for 
an  act  to  establish  the  Territory  of  Nebraska,  have  given  the  same 
that  serious  and  deliberate  consideration  which  its  great  importance 
demands,  and  beg  leave  to  report  it  back  to  the  Senate  with  various 
amendments,  in  the  form  of  a  substitute  for  the  bill ; 

The  principal  amendments  which  your  committee  deem  it  their 
duty  to  commend  to  the  favorable  action  of  the  Senate,  in  a 
special  report,  are  those  in  which  the  principles  established  by  the 
compromise  measures  of  1850,  so  far  as  they  are  applicable  to 
territorial  organizations,  are  proposed  to  be  affirmed  and  carried 
into  practical  operation  within  the  limits  of  the  new  Territory. 

The  wisdom  of  those  measures  is  attested,  not  less  by  their 
salutary  and  beneficial  effects,  in  allaying  sectional  agitation  and 
restoring  peace  and  harmony  to  an  irritated  and  distracted  people, 
than  by  the  cordial  and  almost  universal,  approbation  with  which 
they  have  been  received  and  sanctioned  by  the  whole  country. 
In  the  judgment  of  your  committee,  those  measures  were  intended 
to  have  a  far  more  comprehensive  and  enduring  effect  than  the 
mere  adjustment  of  the  difficulties  arising  out  of  the  recent  acqui 
sition  of  Mexican  territory.  They  were  designed  to  establish 


398  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  ACT  [Jan.  4 

certain  great  principles,  which  would  not  only  furnish  adequate 
remedies  for  existing  evils,  but,  in  all  time  to  come,  avoid  the 
perils  of  a  similar  agitation,  by  withdrawing  the  question  of  slavery 
from  the  halls  of  Congress  and  the  political  arena,  and  committing 
it  to  the  arbitrament  of  those  who  were  immediately  interested  in, 
and  alone,  responsible  for  its  consequences.  With  the  view  of 
conforming  their  action  to  what  they  regard  the  settled  policy  of 
the  government,  sanctioned  by  the  approving  voice  of  the  Ameri 
can  people,  your  committee  have  deemed  it  their  duty  to  incor 
porate  and  perpetuate,  in  their  territorial  bill,  the  principles  and 
spirit  of  those  measures.  If  any  other  consideration  were  necessary, 
to  render  the  propriety  of  this  course  imperative  upon  the  com 
mittee,  they  may  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  the  Nebraska  country 
occupies  the  same  relative  position  to  the  slavery  question,  as  did 
New  Mexico  and  Utah,  when  those  territories  were  organized. 

It  was  a  disputed  point,  whether  slavery  was  prohibited  by  law 
in  the  country  acquired  from  Mexico.  On  the  one  hand  it  was 
contended,  as  a  legal  proposition,  that  slavery  having  been  pro 
hibited  by  the  enactments  of  Mexico,  according  to  the  laws  of 
nations,  we  received  the  country  with  all  its  local  laws  and  domestic 
institutions  attached  to  the  soil,  so  far  as  they  did  not  conflict  with 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that  a  law,  either  pro 
tecting  or  prohibiting  slavery,  was  not  repugnant  to  that  instru 
ment,  as  was  evidenced  by  the  fact,  that  one-half  of  the  States  of 
the  Union  tolerated,  while  the  other  half  prohibited,  the  institution 
of  slavery.  On  the  other  hand  it  was  insisted  that,  by  virtue  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  every  citizen  had  a  right  to 
remove  to  any  Territory  of  the  Union,  and  carry  his  property  with 
him  under  the  protection  of  law,  whether  that  property  consisted 
in  persons  or  things.  The  difficulties  arising  from  this  diversity 
of  opinion  were  greatly  aggravated  by  the  fact,  that  there  were 
many  persons  on  both  sides  of  the  legal  controversy  who  were 
unwilling  to  abide  the  decision  of  the  courts  on  the  legal  matters 
in  dispute ;  thus,  among  those  who  claimed  that  the  Mexican  laws 
were  still  in  force,  and  consequently  that  slavery  was  already  pro 
hibited  in  those  territories  by  valid  enactment,  there  were  many 
who  insisted  upon  Congress  making  the  matter  certain,  by  enact 
ing  another  prohibition.  In  like  manner,  some  of  those  who 
argued  that  the  Mexican  laws  had  ceased  to  have  any  binding 
force,  and  that  the  Constitution  tolerated  and  protected  slave 


1854]  DOUGLAS'S   REPORT  399 

property  in  those  territories,  were  unwilling  to  trust  the  decision 
of  the  courts  upon  that  point,  and  insisted  that  Congress  should, 
by  direct  enactment,  remove  all  legal  obstacles  to  the  introduction 
of  slaves  into  those  territories. 

Such  being  the  character  of  the  controversy,  in  respect  to  the 
territory  acquired  from  Mexico,  a  similar  question  has  arisen  in 
regard  to  the  right  to  hold  slaves  in  the  proposed  territory  of 
Nebraska  when  the  Indian  laws  shall  be  withdrawn,  and  the  country 
thrown  open  to  emigration  and  settlement.  By  the  8th  section  of 
"  an  act  to  authorize  the  people  of  the  Missouri  Territory  to  form 
a  constitution  and  State  government,  and  for  the  admission  of  such 
State  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States, 
and  to  prohibit  slavery  in  certain  territories,"  approved  March  6, 
1820,  it  was  provided:  "That,  in  all  that  territory  ceded  by 
France  to  the  United  States  under  the  name  of  Louisiana,  which 
lies  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  north  latitude, 
not  included  within  the  limits  of  the  State  contemplated  by  this 
act,  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than  in  the  punish 
ment  of  crimes  whereof  the  parties  shall  have  been  duly  convicted, 
shall  be,  and  is  hereby,  forever  prohibited :  Provided  always, 
That  any  person  escaping  into  the  same,  from  whom  labor  or 
service  is  lawfully  claimed,  in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  United 
States,  such  fugitive  may  be  lawfully  reclaimed,  and  conveyed  to 
the  person  claiming  his  or  her  labor  or  service,  as  aforesaid." 

Under  this  section,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Mexican  law  in  New 
Mexico  and  Utah,  it  is  a  disputed  point  whether  slavery  is  pro 
hibited  in  the  Nebraska  country  by  valid  enactment.  The  deci 
sion  of  this  question  involves  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress 
to  pass  laws  prescribing  and  regulating  the  domestic  institutions 
of  the  various  territories  of  the  Union.  In  the  opinion  of  those 
eminent  statesmen,  who  hold  that  Congress  is  invested  with  no 
rightful  authority  to  legislate  upon  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the 
territories,  the  8th  section  of  the  act  preparatory  to  the  admission 
of  Missouri  is  null  and  void ;  while  the  prevailing  sentiment  in 
large  portions  of  the  Union  sustains  the  doctrine  that  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  secures  to  every  citizen  an  inalien 
able  right  to  move  into  any  of  the  territories  with  his  property,  of 
whatever  kind  and  description,  and  to  hold  and  enjoy  the  same 
under  the  sanction  of  law.  Your  committee  do  not  feel  themselves 
called  upon  to  enter  into  the  discussion  of  these  controverted 


400  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  ACT  [Jan.  4 

questions.  They  involve  the  same  grave  issues  which  produced  the 
agitation,  the  sectional  strife,  and  the  fearful  struggle  of  1850. 
As  Congress  deemed  it  wise  and  prudent  to  refrain  from  deciding 
the  matters  in  controversy  then,  either  by  affirming  or  repealing 
the  Mexican  laws,  or  by  an  act  declaratory  of  the  true  intent  of  the 
Constitution  and  the  extent  of  the  protection  afforded  by  it  to 
slave  property  in  the  territories,  so  your  committee  are  not  pre 
pared  now  to  recommend  a  departure  from  the  course  pursued  on 
that  memorable  occasion,  either  by  affirming  or  repealing  the  8th 
section  of  the  Missouri  act,  or  by  any  act  declaratory  of  the  mean 
ing  of  the  Constitution  in  respect  to  the  legal  points  in  dispute. 

Your  committee  deem  it  fortunate  for  the  peace  of  the  country, 
and  the  security  of  the  Union,  that  the  controversy  then  resulted 
in  the  adoption  of  the  compromise  measures,  which  the  two  great 
political  parties,  with  singular  unanimity,  have  affirmed  as  a  car 
dinal  article  of  their  faith,  and  proclaimed  to  the  world,  as  a  final 
settlement  of  the  controversy  and  an  end  of  the  agitation.  A  due 
respect,  therefore,  for  the  avowed  opinions  of  Senators,  as  well  as  a 
proper  sense  of  patriotic  duty,  enjoins  upon  your  committee  the 
propriety  and  necessity  of  a  strict  adherence  to  the  principles,  and 
even  a  literal  adoption  of  the  enactments  of  that  adjustment  in  all 
their  territorial  bills,  so  far  as  the  same  are  not  locally  inapplicable. 
Those  enactments  embrace,  among  other  things,  less  material  to 
the  matters  under  consideration,  the  following  provisions : 

"  When  admitted  as  a  State,  the  said  Territory  or  any  portion 
of  the  same,  shall  be  received  into  the  Union,  with  or  without 
slavery,  as  their  constitution  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  their 
admission." 

"That  the  legislative  power  and  authority  of  said  Territory 
shall  be  vested  in  the  governor  and  a  legislative  assembly." 

"  That  the  legislative  power  of  said  Territory  shall  extend  to  all 
rightful  subjects  of  legislation,  consistent  with  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  and  the  provisions  of  this  act ;  but  no  law  shall 
be  passed  interfering  with  the  primary  disposal  of  the  soil ;  no  tax 
shall  be  imposed  upon  the  property  of  the  United  States ;  nor 
shall  the  lands  or  other  property  of  non-residents  be  taxed  higher 
than  the  lands  or  other  property  of  residents." 

"Writs  of  error  and  appeals  from  the  final  decisions  of  said 
supreme  court  shall  be  allowed,  and  may  be  taken  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  same  manner  and  under  the 


1854]  DOUGLAS'S   REPORT  40 1 

same  regulations  as  from  the  circuit  courts  of  the  United  States, 
where  the  value  of  the  property  or  the  amount  in  controversy,  to 
be  ascertained  by  the  oath  or  affirmation  of  either  party,  or  other 
competent  witness,  shall  exceed  one  thousand  dollars,  except  only 
that,  in  all  cases  involving  title  to  slaves,  the  said  writs  of  error  or 
appeals  shall  be  allowed  and  decided  by  the  said  supreme  court, 
without  regard  to  the  value  of  the  matter,  property,  or  title  in  con 
troversy  ;  and  except,  also,  that  a  writ  of  error  or  appeal  shall  also 
be  allowed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  from  the 
decisions  of  the  said  supreme  court  created  by  this  act,  or  of  any 
judge  thereof,  or  of  the  district  courts  created  by  this  act,  or  of 
any  judge  thereof,  upon  any  writ  of  habeas  corpus  involving  the 
question  of  personal  freedom ;  and  each  of  the  said  district  courts 
shall  have  and  exercise  the  same  jurisdiction  in  all  cases  arising 
under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  as  is  vested 
in  the  circuit  and  district  courts  of  the  United  States ;  and  the 
said  supreme  and  district  courts  of  the  said  Territory,  and  the  re 
spective  judges  thereof,  shall  and  may  grant  writs  of  habeas  corpus 
in  all  cases  in  which  the  same  are  granted  by  the  judges  of  the 
United  States  in  the  District  of  Columbia." 

To  which  may  be  added  the  following  proposition  affirmed  by 
the  act  of  1850,  known  as  the  fugitive  slave  law  : 

That  the  provisions  of  the  "  act  respecting  fugitives  from  justice, 
and  persons  escaping  from  the  service  of  their  masters,"  approved 
February  12,  1793,  and  the  provisions  of  the  "  act  to  amend  and 
supplementary  to  the  aforesaid  act,  approved  September  18,  1850, 
shall  extend  to,  and  be  in  force,  in  all  the  organized  territories,"  as 
well  as  in  the  various  States  of  the  Union. 

From  these  provisions  it  is  apparent  that  the  compromise 
measures  of  1850  affirm  and  rest  upon  the  following  propositions 
—  First :  That  all  questions  pertaining  to  slavery  in  the  territories, 
and  in  the  new  States  to  be  formed  therefrom,  are  to  be  left  to  the 
decision  of  the  people  residing  therein,  by  their  appropriate  repre 
sentatives,  to  be  chosen  by  them  for  that  purpose. 

Second  :  That  "  all  cases  involving  title  to  slaves,"  and  "  ques 
tions  of  personal  freedom  "  are  referred  to  the  adjudication  of  the 
local  tribunals,  with  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States. 

Third  :  That  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  in  respect  to  fugitives  from  service,  is  to  be  carried  into 

2D 


4O2  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  ACT  [Jan.  17 

faithful  execution  in  all  "the  organized  territories"  the  same  as  in 
the  States.  The  substitute  for  the  bill  which  your  committee  have 
prepared,  and  which  is  commended  to  the  favorable  action  of  the 
Senate,  proposes  to  carry  these  propositions  and  principles  into 
practical  operation,  in  the  precise  language  of  the  compromise 
measures  of  1850. 

[Senate  Rep.  75,  33d  Cong.,  ist  Sess.] 


No.  86.     Dixon's  Proposed  Amendment 

January  16,   1854 

SEC.  22.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  so  much  of  the  8th 
section  of  an  act  approved  March  6,  1820,  entitled  "An  act  to 
authorize  the  people  of  the  Missouri  Territory  to  form  a  constitu 
tion  and  State  government,  and  for  the  admission  of  such  State 
into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  and  to 
prohibit  slavery  in  certain  Territories,"  as  declares  "  That  in  all 
that  territory  ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States,  under  the 
name  of  Louisiana,  which  lies  north  of  36  degrees  30  minutes 
north  latitude,  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than 
in  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  parties  shall  have  been 
duly  convicted,  shall  be  forever  prohibited,"  shall  not  be  so  con 
strued  as  to  apply  to  the  Territory  contemplated  by  this  act,  or 
to  any  other  Territory  of  the  United  States ;  but  that  the  citizens 
of  the  several  States  or  Territories  shall  be  at  liberty  to  take  and 
hold  their  slaves  within  any  of  the  Territories  of  the  United  States, 
or  of  the  States  to  be  formed  therefrom,  as  if  the  said  act,  entitled 
as  aforesaid,  and  approved  as  aforesaid,  had  never  been  passed. 

[Cong.  Globe,  33d  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  175.] 


No.  87.     Summer's  Proposed  Amendment 

January  17,   1854 

Provided,  That  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to 
abrogate  or  in  anyway  contravene  the  act  of  March  6,  1820,  enti 
tled  "An  act  to  authorize  the  people  of  Missouri  Territory  to 
form  a  constitution  and  State  government,  and  for  the  admission 


1854]  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  ACT  403 

of  such  State  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
States,  and  to  prohibit  slavery  in  certain  Territories  ;  "  wherein  it 
is  expressly  enacted  that  "  in  all  that  territory  ceded  by  France  to 
the  United  States,  under  the  name  of  Louisiana,  which  lies  north 
of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  north  latitude,  not  included 
within  the  limits  of  the  State  contemplated  by  this  act,  slavery  and 
involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  be,  and  is 

hereby,  forever  prohibited." 

[Cong.  Globe,  33d  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  186.] 


No.  88.     Extract  from  the  Act  to  Organize  the 
Territories  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas 

May  30,  1854 

An  Act  to  Organize  the  Territories  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  all  that  part 
of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  included  within  the  following 
limits,  except  such  portions  thereof  as  are  hereinafter  expressly 
exempted  from  the  operations  of  this  act,  to  wit :  beginning  at  a 
point  in  the  Missouri  River  where  the  fortieth  parallel  of  north 
latitude  crosses  the  same ;  thence  west  on  said  parallel  to  the 
east  boundary  of  the  Territory  of  Utah,  on  the  summit  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  ;  thence  on  said  summit  northward  to  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude ;  thence  east  on  said  parallel 
to  the  western  boundary  of  the  territory  of  Minnesota;  thence 
southward  on  said  boundary  to  the  Missouri  River ;  thence  down 
the  main  channel  of  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning,  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby,  created  into  a  temporary  government  by  the 
name  of  the  Territory  of  Nebraska ;  and  when  admitted  as  a  State 
or  States,  the  said  Territory,  or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be 
received  into  the  Union  with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  constitu 
tion  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  their  admission  :  .  .  . 

**********'* 

SEC.  9.  [The  section  relates  to  the  judicial  system  of  the  Ter 
ritory.]  .  .  .  Writs  of  error,  and  appeals  from  the  final  decisions 
of  said  Supreme  Court  [of  the  Territory],  shall  be  allowed,  and 


404  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  ACT  [May  30 

may  be  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  the 
same  manner  and  under  the  same  regulations  as  from  the  circuit 
courts  of  the  United  States,  where  the  value  of  the  property,  or  the 
amount  in  controversy,  to  be  ascertained  by  the  oath  or  affirmation 
of  either  party,  or  other  competent  witness,  shall  exceed  one 
thousand  dollars ;  except  only  that  in  all  cases  involving  title  to 
slaves,  the  said  writs  of  error,  or  appeals  shall  be  allowed  and  de 
cided  by  the  said  Supreme  Court,  without  regard  to  the  value  of 
the  matter,  property,  or  title  in  controversy ;  .  .  .  Provided,  that 
nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  apply  to  or  affect 
the  provisions  of  the  "  act  respecting  fugitives  from  justice,  and 
persons  escaping  from  the  service  of  their  masters,"  approved 
February  twelfth,  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety-three,  and  the 
"  act  to  amend  and  supplementary  to  the  aforesaid  act,"  approved 
September  eighteen,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty ;  .  .  . 

SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  provisions  of  an 
act  entitled  "  An  act  respecting  fugitives  from  justice,  and  persons 
escaping  from  the  service  of  their  masters,"  approved  February 
twelve,  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety-three,  and  the  provisions  of 
the  act  entitled  "  An  act  to  amend,  and  supplementary  to,  the 
aforesaid  act,"  approved  September  eighteen,  eighteen  hundred 
and  fifty,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby,  declared  to  extend  to  and 
be  in  full  force  within  the  limits  of  said  Territory  of  Nebraska. 

******         ***** 

SEC.  14.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  .  .  .  That  the  Constitution, 
and  all  laws  of  the  United  States  which  are  not  locally  inapplicable, 
shall  have  the  same  force  and  effect  within  the  said  Territory  of 
Nebraska  as  elsewhere  within  the  United  States,  except  the  eighth 
section  of  the  act  preparatory  to  the  admission  of  Missouri  into 
the  Union,  approved  March  sixth,  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty, 
which,  being  inconsistent  with  the  principle  of  non-intervention  by 
Congress  with  slavery  in  the  States  and  Territories,  as  recognized 
by  the  legislation  of  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty,  commonly  called 
the  Compromise  Measures,  is  hereby  declared  inoperative  and 
void;  it  being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to  legis 
late  slavery  into  any  Territory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom, 
but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate 
their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  :  Provided,  That  nothing  herein 
contained  shall  be  construed  to  revive  or  put  in  force  any  law  or 


1854]  OSTEND   MANIFESTO  405 

regulation  which  may  have  existed  prior  to  the  act  of  sixth  March, 
eighteen  hundred  and  twenty,  either  protecting,  establishing,  pro 
hibiting,  or  abolishing  slavery. 

*********** 
SEC.  19.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  that  part  of  the 
Territory  of  the  United  States  included  within  the  following  limits, 
except  such  portions  thereof  as  are  hereinafter  expressly  exempted 
from  the  operations  of  this  act,  to  wit,  beginning  at  a  point  on  the 
western  boundary  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  where  the  thirty-seventh 
parallel  of  north  latitude  crosses  the  same ;  thence  west  on  said 
parallel  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  New  Mexico  ;  thence  north  on 
said  boundary  to  latitude  thirty- eight ;  thence  following  said  boun 
dary  westward  to  the  east  boundary  of  the  Territory  of  Utah,  on  the 
summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  ;  thence  northward  on  said  summit 
to  the  fortieth  parallel  of  latitude ;  thence  east  on  said  parallel  to 
the  western  boundary  of  the  State  of  Missouri ;  thence  south  with 
the  western  boundary  of  said  State  to  the  place  of  beginning,  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby,  created  into  a  temporary  government  by 
the  name  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas  ;  and  when  admitted  as  a  State 
or  States,  the  said  Territory,  or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be 
received  into  the  Union  with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  Constitu 
tion  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  their  admission  :  .  .  . 

[Sections  27,  28,  and  32  apply  to  the  Territory  of  Kansas  the 
provisions  of  sections  9,  10,  and  14,  respectively.] 

[  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  X.,  277-290.] 


No.   89.     Ostend  Manifesto 

October  18,  1854 

THE  annexation  of  Cuba  had  been  looked  upon  with  favor  in  the  United 
States,  particularly  in  the  South,  ever  since  the  downfall  of  Spanish  rule  in 
America;  but  an  offer  of  $100,000,000  for  the  island,  made  by  the  United 
States  in  1848,  was  regarded  by  Spain  as  a  "national  indignity."  The  fitting 
out  in  this  country,  in  1848-50,  of  expeditions  designed  to  aid  in  stirring  up 
revolution  in  Cuba  led,  in  1852,  to  an  invitation  from  England  and  France  to 
the  United  States  to  join  those  powers  in  a  "  tripartite  convention  for  guaran 
teeing  the  Spanish  dominion  over  Cuba";  the  invitation,  however,  was  de 
clined.  As  Spain  refused  to  make  reparation  for  alleged  injuries  to  American 
commerce  with  Cuba,  the  United  States  ministers  to  England,  France,  and 
Spain  were  directed  by  President  Pierce,  in  1854,  to  "compare  opinions  and 


406  OSTEND   MANIFESTO  [Oct.  18 

to  adopt  measures  for  perfect  concert  of  action  in  aid  of  the  negotiations  at 
Madrid."  The  outcome  of  their  conference  was  the  dispatch  to  the  Secretary 
of  State,  since  known  as  the  Ostend  manifesto. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  House  Exec.  Doc.  93,  33d  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  where 
will  also  be  found  the  diplomatic  correspondence.  The  relations  between  the 
United  States  and  Spain  with  regard  to  Cuba  are  treated  in  Wharton's  Intern. 
Law  Digest  (ed.  1887),  I.,  361-411.  See  also  Curtis's  Buchanan,  II.,  chap. 
6;  Wilson's  Slave  Power,  II.,  chap.  47. 

Aix  LA  CHAPELLE,  October  18,  1854. 

SIR  :  —  The  undersigned,  in  compliance  with  the  wish  expressed 
by  the  President  in  the  several  confidential  despatches  you  have 
addressed  to  us,  respectively,  to  that  effect,  have  met  in  confer 
ence,  first  at  Ostend,  in  Belgium,  on  the  gth,  loth,  and  nth  in 
stant,  and  then  at  Aix  la  Chapelle,  in  Prussia,  on  the  days  next 
following,  up  to  the  date  hereof. 

There  has  been  a  full  and  unreserved  interchange  of  views  and 
sentiments  between  us,  which  we  are  most  happy  to  inform  you 
has  resulted  in  a  cordial  coincidence  of  opinion  on  the  grave  and 
important  subjects  submitted  to  our  consideration. 

We  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  and  are  thoroughly  con 
vinced,  that  an  immediate  and  earnest  effort  ought  to  be  made  by 
the  government  of  the  United  States  to  purchase  Cuba  from 
Spain .  at  any  price  for  which  it  can  be  obtained,  not  exceeding 
the  sum  of  $ 

The  proposal  should,  in  our  opinion,  be  made  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  be  presented  through  the  necessary  diplomatic  forms  to  the 
Supreme  Constituent  Cortes  about  to  assemble.  On  this  mo 
mentous  question,  in  which  the  people  both  of  Spain  and  the 
United  States  are  so  deeply  interested,  all  our  proceedings  ought 
to  be  open,  frank,  and  public.  They  should  be  of  such  a  charac 
ter  as  to  challenge  the  approbation  of  the  world. 

We  firmly  believe  that,  in  the  progress  of  human  events,  the 
time  has  arrived  when  the  vital  interests  of  Spain  are  as  seriously 
involved  in  the  sale,  as  those  of  the  United  States  in  the  purchase, 
of  the  island  and  that  the  transaction  will  prove  equally  honorable 
to  both  nations. 

Under  these  circumstances  we  cannot  anticipate  a  failure,  unless 
possibly  through  the  malign  influence  of  foreign  powers  who  pos 
sess  no  right  whatever  to  interfere  in  the  matter. 

We  proceed  to  state  some  of  the  reasons  which  have  brought 


1854]  OSTEND   MANIFESTO  407 

us  to  this  conclusion,  and,  for  the   sake  of  clearness,  we   shall 
specify  them  under  two  distinct  heads  : 

1.  The  United  States  ought,  if  practicable,  to  purchase  Cuba 
with  as  little  delay  as  possible. 

2.  The  probability  is  great  that  the  government  and  cortes  of 
Spain  will  prove  willing  to  sell  it,  because  this  would  essentially 
promote  the  highest  and  best  interests  of  the  Spanish  people. 

Then,  i.  It  must  be  clear  to  every  reflecting  mind  that,  from 
the  peculiarity  of  its  geographical  position,  and  the  considerations 
attendant  on  it,  Cuba  is  as  necessary  to  the  North  American  re 
public  as  any  of  its  present  members,  and  that  it  belongs  naturally 
to  that  great  family  of  States  of  which  the  Union  is  the  providential 
nursery. 

From  its  locality  it  commands  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
and  the  immense  and  annually  increasing  trade  which  must  seek 
this  avenue  to  the  ocean. 

On  the  numerous  navigable  streams,  measuring  an  aggregate 
course  of  some  thirty  thousand  miles,  which  disembogue  them 
selves  through  this  magnificent  river  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the 
increase  of  the  population  within  the  last  ten  years  amounts  to 
more  than  that  of  the  entire  Union  at  the  time  Louisiana  was 
annexed  to  it. 

The  natural  and  main  outlet  to  the  products  of  this  entire  popu 
lation,  the  highway  of  their  direct  intercourse  with  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Pacific  States,  can  never  be  secure,  but  must  ever  be 
endangered  whilst  Cuba  is  a  dependency  of  a  distant  power  in 
whose  possession  it  has  proved  to  be  a  source  of  constant  annoy 
ance  and  embarrassment  to  their  interests. 

Indeed,  the  Union  can  never  enjoy  repose,  nor  possess  reliable 
security,  as  long  as  Cuba  is  not  embraced  within  its  boundaries. 

Its  immediate  acquisition  by  our  government  is  of  paramount 
importance,  and  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  it  is  a  consummation 
'devoutly  wished  for  by  its  inhabitants. 

The  intercourse  which  its  proximity  to  our  coasts  begets  and 
encourages  between  them  and  the  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
has,  in  the  progress  of  time,  so  united  their  interests  and  blended 
their  fortunes  that  they  now  look  upon  each  other  as  if  they  were 
one  people  and  had  but  one  destiny. 

Considerations  exist  which  render  delay  in  the  acquisition  of 
this  island  exceedingly  dangerous  to  the  United  States. 


408  OSTEND   MANIFESTO  [Oct.  18 

The  system  of  immigration  and  labor  lately  organized  within 
its  limits,  and  the  tyranny  and  oppression  which  characterize  its 
immediate  rulers,  threaten  an  insurrection  at  every  moment  which 
may  result  in  direful  consequences  to  the  American  people. 

Cuba  has  thus  become  to  us  an  unceasing  danger,  and  a  per 
manent  cause  of  anxiety  and  alarm. 

But  we  need  not  enlarge  on  these  topics.  It  can  scarcely  be 
apprehended  that  foreign  powers,  in  violation  of  international 
law,  would  interpose  their  influence  with  Spain  to  prevent  our 
acquisition  of  the  island.  Its  inhabitants  are  now  suffering  under 
the  worst  of  all  possible  governments,  that  of  absolute  despotism, 
delegated  by  a  distant  power  to  irresponsible  agents,  who  are 
changed  at  short  intervals,  and  who  are  tempted  to  improve  the 
brief  opportunity  thus  afforded  to  accumulate  fortunes  by  the 
basest  means. 

As  long  as  this  system  shall  endure,  humanity  may  in  vain 
demand  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave  trade  in  the  island. 
This  is  rendered  impossible  whilst  that  infamous  traffic  remains 
an  irresistible  temptation  and  a  source  of  immense  profit  to  needy 
and  avaricious  officials,  who,  to  attain  their  ends,  scruple  not  to 
trample  the  most  sacred  principles  under  foot.  The  Spanish  gov 
ernment  at  home  may  be  well  disposed,  but  experience  has  proved 
that  it  cannot  control  these  remote  depositaries  of  its  power. 

Besides,  the  commercial  nations  of  the  world  cannot  fail  to 
perceive  and  appreciate  the  great  advantages  which  would  result 
to  their  people  from  a  dissolution  of  the  forced  and  unnatural 
connexion  between  Spain  and  Cuba,  and  the  annexation  of  the 
latter  to  the  United  States.  The  trade  of  England  and  France 
with  Cuba  would,  in  that  event,  assume  at  once  an  important  and 
profitable  character,  and  rapidly  extend  with  the  increasing  popu 
lation  and  prosperity  of  the  island. 

2.  But  if  the  United  States  and  every  commercial  nation  would 
be  benefited  by  this  transfer,  the  interests  of  Spain  would  also  be 
greatly  and  essentially  promoted. 

She  cannot  but  see  what  such  a  sum  of  money  as  we  are  will 
ing  to  pay  for  the  island  would  effect  in  the  development  of  her 
vast  natural  resources. 

Two-thirds  of  this  sum,  if  employed  in  the  construction  of  a 
system  of  railroads,  would  ultimately  prove  a  source  of  greater 
wealth  to  the  Spanish  people  than  that  opened  to  their  vision  by 


1854]  OSTEND   MANIFESTO  409 

Cortez.  Their  prosperity  would  date  from  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty  of  cession. 

France  has  already  constructed  continuous  lines  of  railways 
from  Havre,  Marseilles,  Valenciennes,  and  Strasbourg,  via  Paris, 
to  the  Spanish  frontier,  and  anxiously  awaits  the  day  when  Spain 
shall  find  herself  in  a  condition  to  extend  these  roads  through  her 
northern  provinces  to  Madrid,  Seville,  Cadiz,  Malaga,  and  the 
frontiers  of  Portugal. 

This  object  once  accomplished,  Spain  would  become  a  centre 
of  attraction  for  the  travelling  world,  and  secure  a  permanent  and 
profitable  market  for  her  various  productions.  Her  fields,  under 
the  stimulus  given  to  industry  by  remunerating  prices,  would  teem 
with  cereal  grain,  and  her  vineyards  would  bring  forth  a  vastly  in 
creased  quantity  of  choice  wines.  Spain  would  speedily  become, 
what  a  bountiful  Providence  intended  she  should  be,  one  of  the 
first  nations  of  Continental  Europe  —  rich,  powerful,  and  contented. 

Whilst  two-thirds  of  the  price  of  the  island  would  be  ample  for 
the  completion  of  her  most  important  public  improvements,  she 
might,  with  the  remaining  forty  millions,  satisfy  the  demands  now 
pressing  so  heavily  upon  her  credit,  and  create  a  sinking  fund 
which  would  gradually  relieve  her  from  the  overwhelming  debt 
now  paralyzing  her  energies. 

Such  is  her  present  wretched  financial  condition,  that  her  best 
bonds  are  sold  upon  her  own  Bourse  at  about  one-third  of  their 
par  value ;  whilst  another  class,  on  which  she  pays  no  interest, 
have  but  a  nominal  value,  and  are  quoted  at  about  one-sixth  of 
the  amount  for  which  they  were  issued. 

Besides,  these  latter  are  held  principally  by  British  creditors 
who  may,  from  day  to  day,  obtain  the  effective  interposition  of 
their  own  government  for  the  purpose  of  coercing  payment.  In 
timations  to  that  effect  have  been  already  thrown  out  from  high 
quarters,  and  unless  some  new  source  of  revenue  shall  enable 
Spain  to  provide  for  such  exigencies,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
they  may  be  realized. 

Should  Spain  reject  the  present  golden  opportunity  for  develop 
ing  her  resources,  and  removing  her  financial  embarrassments,  it 
may  never  again  return. 

Cuba,  in  its  palmiest  days,  never  yielded  her  exchequer,  after 
deducting  the  expenses  of  its  government,  a  clear  annual  income 
of  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars.  These  expenses 


410  OSTEND   MANIFESTO  [Oct.  18 

have  increased  to  such  a  degree  as  to  leave  a  deficit  chargeable  on 
the  treasury  of  Spain  to  the  amount  of  six  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

In  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  therefore,  the  island  is  an  incum- 
brance,  instead  of  a  source  of  profit,  to  the  mother  country. 

Under  no  probable  circumstances  can  Cuba  ever  yield  to  Spain 
one  per  cent,  on  the  large  amount  which  the  United  States  are 
willing  to  pay  for  its  acquisition.  But  Spain  is  in  imminent  danger 
of  losing  Cuba,  without  remuneration. 

Extreme  oppression,  it  is  now  universally  admitted,  justifies  any 
people  in  endeavoring  to  relieve  themselves  from  the  yoke  of  their 
oppressors.  The  sufferings  which  the  corrupt,  arbitrary,  and  un 
relenting  local  administration  necessarily  entails  upon  the  inhabi 
tants  of  Cuba,  cannot  fail  to  stimulate  and  keep  alive  that  spirit 
of  resistance  and  revolution  against  Spain,  which  has,  of  late 
years,  been  so  often  manifested.  In  this  condition  of  affairs  it  is 
vain  to  expect  that  the  sympathies  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  will  not  be  warmly  enlisted  in  favor  of  their  oppressed 
neighbors. 

We  know  that  the  President  is  justly  inflexible  in  his  determina 
tion  to  execute  the  neutrality  laws ;  but  should  the  Cubans  them 
selves  rise  in  revolt  against  the  oppression  which  they  suffer,  no 
human  power  could  prevent  citizens  of  the  United  States  and 
liberal  minded  men  of  other  countries  from  rushing  to  their  as 
sistance.  Besides,  the  present  is  an  age  of  adventure,  in  which 
restless  and  daring  spirits  abound  in  every  portion  of  the  world. 

It  is  not  improbable,  therefore,  that  Cuba  may  be  wrested  from 
Spain  by  a  successful  revolution ;  and  in  that  event  she  will  lose 
both  the  island  and  the  price  which  we  are  now  willing  to  pay  for 
it  —  a  price  far  beyond  what  was  ever  paid  by  one  people  to 
another  for  any  province. 

It  may  also  be  remarked  that  the  settlement  of  this  vexed  ques 
tion,  by  the  cession  of  Cuba  to  the  United  States,  would  forever 
prevent  the  dangerous  complications  between  nations  to  which  it 
may  otherwise  give  birth. 

It  is  certain  that,  should  the  Cubans  themselves  organize  an  in 
surrection  against  the  Spanish  government,  and  should  other  in 
dependent  nations  come  to  the  aid  of  Spain  in  the  contest,  no 
human  power  could,  in  our  opinion,  prevent  the  people  and  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  from  taking  part  in  such  a  civil  war 
in  support  of  their  neighbors  and  friends. 


1854]  OSTEND   MANIFESTO  411 

But  if  Spain,  dead  to  the  voice  of  her  own  interest,  and  actu 
ated  by  stubborn  pride  and  a  false  sense  of  honor,  should  refuse 
to  sell  Cuba  to  the  United  States,  then  the  question  will  arise, 
What  ought  to  be  the  course  of  the  American  government  under 
such  circumstances?  Self-preservation  is  the  first  law  of  nature, 
with  States  as  well  as  with  individuals.  All  nations  have,  at  differ 
ent  periods,  acted  upon  this  maxim.  Although  it  has  been  made 
the  pretext  for  committing  flagrant  injustice,  as  in  the  partition  of 
Poland  and  other  similar  cases  which  history  records,  yet  the  prin 
ciple  itself,  though  often  abused,  has  always  been  recognized. 

The  United  States  have  never  acquired  a  foot  of  territory  ex 
cept  by  fair  purchase,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  Texas,  upon  the  free 
and  voluntary  application  of  the  people  of  that  independent  State, 
who  desired  to  blend  their  destinies  with  our  own. 

Even  our  acquisitions  from  Mexico  are  no  exception  to  this  rule, 
because,  although  we  might  have  claimed  them  by  the  right  of 
conquest  in  a  just  war,  yet  we  purchased  them  for  what  was  then 
considered  by  both  parties  a  full  and  ample  equivalent. 

Our  past  history  forbids  that  we  should  acquire  the  island  of 
Cuba  without  the  consent  of  Spain,  unless  justified  by  the  great 
law  of  self-preservation.  We  must,  in  any  event,  preserve  our 
own  conscious  rectitude  and  our  own  self-respect. 

Whilst  pursuing  this  course  we  can  afford  to  disregard  the  cen 
sures  of  the  world,  to  which  we  have  been  so  often  and  so  unjustly 
exposed. 

After  we  shall  have  offered  Spain  a  price  for  Cuba  far  beyond 
its  present  value,  and  this  shall  have  been  refused,  it  will  then  be 
time  to  consider  the  question,  does  Cuba,  in  the  possession  of 
Spain,  seriously  endanger  our  internal  peace  and  the  existence  of 
our  cherished  Union? 

Should  this  question  be  answered  in  the  affirmative,  then,  by 
every  law,  human  and  divine,  we  shall  be  justified  in  wresting  it 
from  Spain  if  we  possess  the  power ;  and  this  upon  the  very  same 
principle  that  would  justify  an  individual  in  tearing  down  the 
burning  house  of  his  neighbor  if  there  were  no  other  means  of 
preventing  the  flames  from  destroying  his  own  home. 

Under  such  circumstances  we  ought  neither  to  count  the  cost 
nor  regard  the  odds  which  Spain  might  enlist  against  us.  We  for 
bear  to  enter  into  the  question,  whether  the  present  condition  of 
the  island  would  justify  such  a  measure  ?  We  should,  however,  be 


412  OSTEND   MANIFESTO  [Oct.  18 

recreant  to  our  duty,  be  unworthy  of  our  gallant  forefathers,  and 
commit  base  treason  against  our  posterity,  should  we  permit  Cuba 
to  be  Africanized  and  become  a  second  St.  Domingo,  with  all  its 
attendant  horrors  to  the  white  race,  and  suffer  the  flames  to  extend 
to  our  own  neighboring  shores,  seriously  to  endanger  or  actually 
to  consume  the  fair  fabric  of  our  Union. 

We  fear  that  the  course  and  current  of  events  are  rapidly  tend 
ing  towards  such  a  catastrophe.  We,  however,  hope  for  the  best, 
though  we  ought  certainly  to  be  prepared  for  the  worst. 

We  also  forbear  to  investigate  the  present  condition  of  the 
questions  at  issue  between  the  United  States  and  Spain.  A  long 
series  of  injuries  to  our  people  have  been  committed  in  Cuba  by 
Spanish  officials  and  are  unredressed.  But  recently  a  most  flagrant 
outrage  on  the  rights  of  American  citizens  and  on  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  was  perpetrated  in  the  harbor  of  Havana  under  cir 
cumstances  which,  without  immediate  redress,  would  have  justi 
fied  a  resort  to  measures  of  war  in  vindication  of  national  honor. 
That  outrage  is  not  only  unatoned,  but  the  Spanish  government 
has  deliberately  sanctioned  the  acts  of  its  subordinates  and  as 
sumed  the  responsibility  attaching  to  them. 

Nothing  could  more  impressively  teach  us  the  danger  to  which 
those  peaceful  relations  it  has  ever  been  the  policy  of  the  United 
States  to  cherish  with  foreign  nations  are  constantly  exposed  than 
the  circumstances  of  that  case.  Situated  as  Spain  and  the  United 
States  are,  the  latter  have  forborne  to  resort  to  extreme  measures. 

But  this  course  cannot,  with  due  regard  to  their  own  dignity  as 
an  independent  nation,  continue  ;  and  our  recommendations,  now 
submitted,  are  dictated  by  the  firm  belief  that  the  cession  of 
Cuba  to  the  United  States,  with  stipulations  as  beneficial  to  Spain 
as  those  suggested,  is  the  only  effective  mode  of  settling  all  past 
differences  and  of  securing  the  two  countries  against  future 
collisions. 

We  have  already  witnessed  the  happy  results  for  both  countries 
which  followed  a  similar  arrangement  in  regard  to  Florida. 

Yours,  very  respectfully, 

JAMES  BUCHANAN. 
J.  Y.  MASON. 
PIERRE  SOULE. 
HON.  WM.  L.  MARCY,  Secretary  of  State. 


i8$4]  REPORT  ON  TROUBLES   IN  KANSAS  413 

No.  90.     Report  of   the   House   Committee  on 
Affairs  in  Kansas 

July  i,   1856 

JANUARY  24,  1856,  President  Pierce  sent  to  Congress  a  special  message  on 
the  condition  of  affairs  in  Kansas.  February  14  a  memorial  from  Andrew  H. 
Reeder  was  presented  in  the  House,  contesting  the  election  of  John  W.  Whit- 
field,  who  had  taken  his  seat  at  the  beginning  of  the  session  as  delegate  from 
Kansas  Territory.  On  the  i8th,  copies  of  the  territorial  laws  and  executive 
papers  of  the  governor  were  called  for.  On  the  igth  the  Committee  of  Elec 
tions  moved  for  leave  to  send  for  persons  and  papers  in  connection  with  the 
Kansas  contested  election.  The  resolution  was  recommitted,  with  instructions 
to  the  committee  to  report  the  reasons  and  grounds  on  which  such  authority 
was  desired.  The  report  of  the  committee  was  presented  March  5,  and 
20,000  extra  copies  ordered  to  be  printed.  On  the  1 7th,  Dunn  of  Indiana 
moved  the  appointment  of  a  select  committee  of  three  to  investigate  the 
troubles  in  Kansas.  The  motion  was  agreed  to  on  the  iQth,  by  a  vote  of  102 
to  93,  and  Lewis  D.  Campbell  of  Ohio,  William  A.  Howard  of  Michigan,  and 
Mordecai  Oliver  of  Missouri  were  named  as  the  committee.  Campbell  was 
later  excused,  and  John  Sherman  of  Ohio  was  appointed  in  his  place.  The 
papers  called  for  Feb.  18  were  sent  in  March  24.  The  majority  report  of  the 
select  committee  was  submitted  July  I,  Oliver's  minority  report  following  on 
the  nth.  July  24  the  Committee  of  Electiohs  reported  in  favor  of  Reeder, 
who  on  the  3ist  submitted  a  further  statement  in  his  own  behalf.  August  i, 
by  a  vote  of  no  to  92,  \Vhitfield  was  unseated,  and  then,  by  a  vote  of  88  to 
113,  Reeder's  claim  was  also  rejected. 

The  reports  submitted  July  i  and  n,  with  the  accompanying  testimony,  are 
very  long.  The  extracts  following  give  the  summary  statements  of  conclusions 
with  which  the  majority  and  minority  portions  close. 

REFERENCES. — The  report  of  the  select  committee  is  House  Rep.  200, 
34th  Cong.,  1st  Sess.;  the  extracts  here  given  are  on  pp.  67  and  109.  The 
proceedings  and  debates  in  the  House  may  be  followed  in  the  Journal,  and  the 
Cong.  Globe.  The  special  message  of  Jan.  24  is  in  the  Journal,  and  also  House 
Exec.  Doc.  28  ;  the  papers  transmitted  March  24  are  in  House  Exec.  Doc.  66. 
The  report  of  the  Committee  of  Elections  March  5  is  House  Rep.  3 ;  the 
report  July  24  is  House  Rep.  2^5.  Reeder's  memorial  submitted  July  31  is 
House  Misc.  Doc.  3.  On  the  Kansas  struggle  as  a  whole,  see  the  annual 
messages  of  the  Presidents,  1854-61,  and  accompanying  documents.  The 
papers  of  the  territorial  governors  are  in  the  Kansas  Hist.  Collections.  Im 
portant  general  references  are :  Von  Hoist's  United  States,  V.,  chaps.  2,  3,  5, 
6,  8;  VI.,  chaps.  2,  4,  5;  Rhodes's  United  States,  II.,  passim;  Nicolay  and 
Hay's  Lincoln,  II.,  chap.  6;  Wilson's  Slave  Power,  II.,  chaps.  35,  37,  40-42, 
49;  Greeley's  Amer.  Conflict,  I.,  chap.  17;  Johnston,  in  Lalor's  Cyclopedia, 
II.,  664-667;  Sumner's  Works  (ed.  1880),  IV.,  N., passim. 


414  REPORT   ON  TROUBLES   IN   KANSAS  [July  I 

.  .  .  Your  committee  report  the  following  facts  and  conclu 
sions  as  established  by  the  testimony  : 

First.  That  each  election  in  the  Territory,  held  under  the 
organic  or  alleged  Territorial  law,  has  been  carried  by  organized 
invasion  from  the  State  of  Missouri,  by  which  the  people  of  the 
Territory  have  been  prevented  from  exercising  the  rights  secured 
to  them  by  the  organic  law. 

Second.  That  the  alleged  Territorial  legislature  was  an  illegally 
constituted  body,  and  had  no  power  to  pass  valid  laws,  and  their 
enactments  are  therefore  null  and  void. 

Third.  That  these  alleged  laws  have  not,  as  a  general  thing, 
been  used  to  protect  persons  and  property,  and  to  punish  wrong, 
but  for  unlawful  purposes. 

Fourth.  That  the  election  under  which  the  sitting  delegate, 
John  W.  Whitfield,  holds  his  seat,  was  not  held  in  pursuance  of 
any  valid  law,  and  that  it  should  be  regarded  only  as  the  expression 
of  the  choice  of  those  resident  citizens  who  voted  for  him. 

Fifth.  That  the  election,  under  which  the  contesting  delegate, 
Andrew  H.  Reeder,  claims  his  seat,  was  not  held  in  pursuance  of 
law,  and  that  it  should  be  regarded  only  as  the  expression  of  the 
resident  citizens  who  voted  for  him. 

Sixth.  That  Andrew  H.  Reeder  received  a  greater  number  of 
votes  of  resident  citizens  than  John  W.  Whitfield,  for  delegate. 

Seventh.  That  in  the  present  condition  of  the  Territory  a  fair 
election  cannot  be  held  without  a  new  census,  a  stringent  and 
well-guarded  election  law,  the  selection  of  impartial  judges,  and 
the  presence  of  United  States  troops  at  every  place  of  election. 

Eighth.  That  the  various  elections  held  by  the  people  of  the 
Territory  preliminary  to  the  formation  of  the  State  government, 
have  been  as  regular  as  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  Territory 
would  allow ;  and  that  the  constitution  passed  by  the  convention, 
held  in  pursuance  of  said  elections,  embodies  the  will  of  a  majority 
of  the  people. 

As  it  is  not  the  province  of  your  committee  to  suggest  remedies 
for  the  existing  troubles  in  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  they  content 
themselves  with  the  foregoing  statement  of  facts. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

WM.  A.  HOWARD. 
JOHN  SHERMAN. 


1856]  REPORT  ON  TROUBLES   IN   KANSAS  415 

MINORITY  REPORT 

...  In  conclusion,  the  undersigned  begs  to  report  the  following 
facts  and  conclusions,  as  he  believes,  established  by  the  testimony 
and  sanctioned  by  the  law  : 

First.  That  at  the  first  election  held  in  the  Territory  under  the 
organic  act,  for  delegate  to  Congress,  Gen.  John  W.  Whitfield 
received  a  plurality  of  the  legal  votes  cast,  and  was  duly  elected 
such  delegate,  as  stated  in  the  majority  report. 

Second.  That  the  Territorial  legislature  was  a  legally  constituted 
body,  and  had  power  to  pass  valid  laws,  and  their  enactments  are 
therefore  valid. 

Third.  That  these  laws,  when  appealed  to,  have  been  used  for 
the  protection  of  life,  liberty  and  property,  and  for  the  mainte 
nance  of  law  and  order  in  the  Territory. 

Fourth.  That  the  election  under  which  the  sitting  delegate, 
John  W.  Whitfield,  was  held,  was  in  pursuance  of  valid  law,  and 
should  be  regarded  as  a  valid  election. 

Fifth.  That  as  said  Whitfield,  at  said  election,  received  a  large 
number  of  legal  votes  without  opposition,  he  was  duly  elected  as 
a  delegate  to  this  body,  and  is  entitled  to  a  seat  on  this  floor 
as  such. 

Sixth.  That  the  election  under  which  the  contesting  delegate, 
Andrew  H.  Reeder,  claims  his  seat,  was  not  held  under  any  law, 
but  in  contemptuous  disregard  of  all  law ;  and  that  it  should  only 
be  regarded  as  the  expression  of  a  band  of  malcontents  and  revo 
lutionists,  and  consequently  should  be  wholly  disregarded  by  the 
House. 

Seventh.  As  to  whether  or  not  Andrew  H.  Reeder  received  a 
greater  number  of  votes  of  resident  citizens  on  the  9th,  than  J.  W. 
Whitfield  did  on  the  ist  of  October,  1855,  no  testimony  was  taken 
by  the  committee,  so  far  as  the  undersigned  knows,  nor  is  it 
material  to  the  issue. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

M.  OLIVER. 


416  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION  [March  6 

No.   91.     Dred  Scott  Decision 

March  6,  1857 

THE  main  facts  of  the  Dred  Scott  case  (Dred  Scott  v.  Sandford)  are  as 
follows  :  Dred  Scott  was  a  negro  slave,  the  property  of  Dr.  Emerson,  a  surgeon 
in  the  United  States  army.  In  1834  Scott  was  taken  by  his  owner  from  Mis 
souri  to  the  military  post  at  Rock  Island,  111.,  and  from  thence,  in  1836,  to 
Fort  Snelling,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  within  the  limits  of  the 
territory  acquired  from  France  in  1803,  and  north  of  36°  30'.  There  Scott, 
with  the  consent  of  his  owner,  married.  In  1838  Emerson  took  Scott  and  his 
family  back  to  Missouri.  In  1847  Scott  brought  suit  in  the  circuit  court  of 
the  State  of  Missouri  to  recover  his  freedom,  on  the  ground  of  previous  resi 
dence  in  free  territory.  Judgment  was  rendered  in  his  favor,  but  was  reversed 
in  1848  by  the  Missouri  supreme  court,  to  which  the  case  was  carried  on  writ 
of  error.  In  the  meantime,  Scott  and  his  family  passed  under  the  control  of 
John  F.  A.  Sandford  of  New  York.  In  1853  Scott  brought  suit  for  damages 
against  Sandford,  in  the  United  States  circuit  court  for  the  district  of  Missouri, 
on  the  alleged  ground  of  illegal  detention  of  himself  and  family  as  slaves. 
The  defendant  pleaded  that  Scott,  being  a  negro,  and  born  of  slave  parents, 
could  not  be  a  citizen  of  Missouri,  and  hence  could  not  be  a  party  to  a  suit  in 
the  United  States  courts.  The  plea  was  overruled,  but  on  other  grounds 
Scott's  claim  to  freedom  was  denied,  and  judgment  rendered  against  him. 
The  case  was  then  appealed  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  where  it  was 
twice  argued,  in  February  and  December,  1856.  The  decision  was  rendered 
March  6,  1857.  Chief  Justice  Taney  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court,  but 
separate  opinions  were  read  by  each  of  the  eight  associate  justices.  It  has 
been  well  said  that  "to  ascertain  what  the  judgment  of  the  court  really  was, 
it  is  necessary  to  compare  the  nine  opinions  and  tabulate  the  results."  The 
legal  doctrine  of  the  decision,  so  far  as  the  question  of  slavery  was  concerned, 
was  set  aside  by  the  fourteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution. 

REFERENCES. —  1'ext  in  ig  Howard,  393-633.  Important  general  discus 
sions  are :  Von  Hoist's  United  States,  VI.,  chap.  I ;  Rhodes's  United  States, 
II.,  249-271;  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln,  II.,  chaps.  4,  5;  Johnston,  in 
Lalor^s  Cyclopedia,  I.,  838-841;  Burgess's  Middle  Period,  chap.  21 ;  Wil 
son's  Slave  Poiver,  II..  chap.  39;  Tyler's  Taney,  chap.  5.  For  contemporary 
discussions,  see  Benton's  Historical  and  Legal  Examination  of  the  Dred  Scott 
Case  ;  Gray  and  Lowell's  Legal  Review  of  the  Case  of  Dred  Scott ;  Foot's  Ex 
amination  of  the  Case  of  Dred  Scott. 

[Opinion  of  the   Court.~] 

.  .  .     There  are  two  leading  questions  presented  by  the  record  : 

1.  Had  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  jurisdiction  to 
hear  and  determine  the  case  between  these  parties?     And, 

2.  If  it  had  jurisdiction,  is  the  judgment  it  has  given  erroneous 
or  not? 


1857]  DRED   SCOTT   DECISION  417 

The  plaintiff  in  error,  who  was  also  the  plaintiff  in  the  court  be 
low,  was,  with  his  wife  and  children,  held  as  slaves  by  the  defend 
ant,  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  he  brought  this  action  in  the 
Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for  that  district,  to  assert  the 
title  of  himself  and  his  family  to  freedom. 

The  declaration  is  in  the  form  usually  adopted  in  that  State  to 
try  questions  of  this  description,  and  contains  the  averment  neces 
sary  to  give  the  court  jurisdiction  ;  that  he  and  the  defendant  are 
citizens  of  different  States  ;  that  is,  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  Missouri, 
and  the  defendant  a  citizen  of  New  York. 

The  defendant  pleaded  in  abatement  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court,  that  the  plaintiff  was  not  a  citizen  of  the  State  of  Missouri, 
as  alleged  in  his  declaration,  being  a  negro  of  African  descent, 
whose  ancestors  were  of  pure  African  blood,  and  who  were  brought 
into  this  country  and  sold  as  slaves. 

To  this  plea  the  plaintiff  demurred,  and  the  defendant  joined  in 
demurrer.  The  court  overruled  the  plea,  and  gave  judgment  that 
the  defendant  should  answer  over.  And  he  therefore  put  in  sun 
dry  pleas  in  bar,  upon  which  issues  were  joined,  and  at  the  trial 
the  verdict  and  judgment  were  in  his  favor.  Whereupon  the 
plaintiff  brought  this  writ  of  error. 

Before  we  speak  of  the  pleas  in  bar,  it  will  be  proper  to  dispose 
of  the  questions  which  have  arisen  on  the  plea  in  abatement. 

That  plea  denies  the  right  of  the  plaintiff  to  sue  in  a  court  of 
the  United  States,  for  the  reasons  therein  stated. 

If  the  question  raised  by  it  is  legally  before  us,  and  the  court 
should  be  of  opinion  that  the  facts  stated  in  it  disqualify  the  plain 
tiff  from  becoming  a  citizen,  in  the  sense  in  which  that  word  is 
used  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  then  the  judgment 
of  the  Circuit  Court  is  erroneous,  and  must  be  reversed. 

It  is  suggested,  however,  that  this  plea  is  not  before  us ;  and 
that  as  the  judgment  in  the  court  below  on  this  plea  was  in  favor 
of  the  plaintiff,  he  does  not  seek  to  reverse  it,  or  bring  it  before 
the  court  for  revision  by  his  writ  of  error ;  and  also  that  the  de 
fendant  waived  this  defense  by  pleading  over,  and  thereby  ad 
mitted  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court. 

But  in  making  this  objection,  we  think  the  peculiar  and  limited 
jurisdiction  of  courts  of  the  United  States  has  not  been  adverted 
to.  This  peculiar  and  limited  jurisdiction  has  made  it  necessary, 
in  these  courts,  to  adopt  different  rules  and  principles  of  pleading, 


41 8  DRED   SCOTT   DECISION  [March  6 

so  far  as  jurisdiction  is  concerned,  from  those  which  regulate 
courts  of  common  law  in  England  and  in  the  different  States  of 
the  Union  which  have  adopted  the  common  law  rules.  .  .  .  This 
difference  arises  .  .  .  from  the  peculiar  character  of  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States.  ...  In  regulating  the  Judicial  De 
partment,  the  cases  in  which  the  courts  of  the  United  States  shall 
have  jurisdiction  are  particularly  and  specifically  enumerated  and 
defined ;  and  they  are  not  authorized  to  take  cognizance  of  any 
case  which  does  not  come  within  the  description  therein  specified. 
.  .  .  The  jurisdiction  would  not  be  presumed,  as  in  the  case  of 
a  common  law,  English,  or  state  court,  unless  the  contrary  ap 
peared.  But  the  record,  when  it  comes  before  the  appellate 
court,  must  show,  affirmatively,  that  the  inferior  court  had  author 
ity,  under  the  Constitution,  to  hear  and  determine  the  case.  And 
if  the  plaintiff  claims  a  right  to  sue  in  a  circuit  court  of  the  United 
States,  under  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  which  gives  juris 
diction  in  controversies  between  citizens  of  different  states,  he 
must  distinctly  aver  in  his  pleading  that  they  are  citizens  of  differ 
ent  states ;  and  he  cannot  maintain  his  suit  without  showing  that 
fact  in  the  pleadings.  .  .  . 

...  In  this  case,  the  citizenship  is  averred,  but  it  is  denied  by 
the  defendant  in  the  manner  required  by  the  rules  of  pleading, 
and  the  fact  upon  which  the  denial  is  based  is  admitted  by  the 
demurrer.  And  if  the  plea  and  demurrer,  and  judgment  of  the 
court  below  upon  it,  are  before  us  upon  this  record,  the  question 
to  be  decided  is,  whether  the  facts  stated  in  the  plea  are  sufficient 
to  show  that  the  plaintiff  is  not  entitled  to  sue  as  a  citizen  in  a 
court  of  the  United  States. 

We  think  they  are  before  us  ...  and  it  becomes,  therefore,  our 
duty  to  decide  whether  the  facts  stated  in  the  plea  are  or  are  not 
sufficient  to  show  that  the  plaintiff  is  not  entitled  to  sue  as  a  citi 
zen  in  a  court  of  the  United  States. 

This  is  certainly  a  very  serious  question,  and  one  that  now  for 
the  first  time  has  been  brought  for  decision  before  this  court. 
But  it  is  brought  here  by  those  who  have  a  right  to  bring  it,  and 
it  is  our  duty  to  meet  it  and  decide  it. 

The  question  is  simply  this  :  can  a  negro,  whose  ancestors  were 
imported  into  this  country  and  sold  as  slaves,  become  a  member 
of  the  political  community  formed  and  brought  into  existence  by 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  as  such  become  entitled 


1857]  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION  419 

to  all  the  rights,  and  privileges,  and  immunities,  guarantied  by 
that  instrument  to  the  citizen.  One  of  these  rights  is  the  privilege 
of  suing  in  a  court  of  the  United  States  in  the  cases  specified  in 
the  Constitution.  .  .  .  The  court  must  be  understood  as  speak 
ing  in  this  opinion  ...  of  those  persons  [only]  who  are  the 
descendants  of  Africans  who  were  imported  into  this  country  and 
sold  as  slaves.  .  .  . 

We  proceed  to  examine  the  case  as  presented  by  the  pleadings. 

The  words  "  people  of  the  United  States  "  and  "  citizens  "  are 
synonymous  terms,  and  mean  the, same  thing.  They  both  describe 
the  political  body  who,  according  to  our  republican  institutions, 
form  the  sovereignty,  and  who  hold  the  power  and  conduct  the 
government  through  their  representatives.  They  are  what  we 
familiarly  call  the  "sovereign  people,"  and  every  citizen  is  one 
of  this  people,  and  a  constituent  member  of  this  sovereignty. 
The  question  before  us  is,  whether  the  class  of  persons  described 
in  the  plea  in  abatement  compose  a  portion  of  this  people,  and 
are  constituent  members  of  this  sovereignty?  We  think  they  are 
not,  and  that  they  are  not  included,  and  were  not  intended  to  be 
included,  under  the  word  "  citizens  "  in  the  Constitution,  and  can, 
therefore,  claim  none  of  the  rights  and  privileges  which  that 
instrument  provides  for  and  secures  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  at  that  time  considered  as 
a  subordinate  and  inferior  class  of  beings,  who  had  been  subju 
gated  by  the  dominant  race,  and  whether  emancipated  or  not,  yet 
remained  subject  to  their  authority,  and  had  no  rights  or  privileges 
but  such  as  those  who  held  the  power  and  the  government  might 
choose  to  grant  them.  .  .  . 

In  discussing  this  question,  we  must  not  confound  the  rights 
of  citizenship  which  a  state  may  confer  within  its  own  limits,  and 
the  rights  of  citizenship  as  a  member  of  the  Union.  It  does  not 
by  any  means  follow,  because  he  has  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  a  citizen  of  a  State,  that  he  must  be  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States.  He  may  have  all  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
citizen  of  a  State,  and  yet  not  be  entitled  to  the  rights  and  privi 
leges  of  a  citizen  in  any  other  State.  For,  previous  to  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  every  State  had  the 
undoubted  right  to  confer  on  whomsoever  it  pleased  the  character 
of  a  citizen,  and  to  endow  him  with  all  its  rights.  But  this  char 
acter,  of  course,  was  confined  to  the  boundaries  of  the  State,  and 


42O  DRED   SCOTT   DECISION  [March  6 

gave  him  no  rights  or  privileges  in  other  States  beyond  those 
secured  to  him  by  the  laws  of  nations  and  the  comity  of  States. 
Nor  have  the  several  States  surrendered  the  power  of  conferring 
these  rights  and  privileges  by  adopting  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  Each  State  may  still  confer  them  upon  an  alien, 
or  any  one  it  thinks  proper,  or  upon  any  class  or  description  of 
persons ;  yet  he  would  not  be  a  citizen  in  the  sense  in  which  that 
word  is  used  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  nor  entitled 
to  sue  as  such  in  one  of  its  courts,  nor  to  the  privileges  and  immu 
nities  of  a  citizen  in  the  other  States.  The  rights  which  he  would 
acquire  would  be  restricted  to  the  State  which  gave  them.  .  .  . 

It  is  very  clear,  therefore,  that  no  State  can,  by  any  Act  or  law 
of  its  own,  passed  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  intro 
duce  a  new  member  into  the  political  community  created  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  It  cannot  make  him  a  member 
of  this  community  by  making  him  a  member  of  its  own.  And  for 
the  same  reason  it  cannot  introduce  any  person,  or  description  of 
persons,  who  were  not  intended  to  be  embraced  in  this  new  politi 
cal  family,  which  the  Constitution  brought  into  existence,  but  were 
intended  to  be  excluded  from  it. 

The  question  then  arises,  whether  the  provisions  of  the  Consti 
tution,  in  relation  to  the  personal  rights  and  privileges  to  which 
the  citizen  of  a  State  should  be  entitled,  embraced  the  negro 
African  race,  at  that  time  in  this  country,  or  who  might  afterwards 
be  imported,  who  had  then  or  should  afterwards  be  made  free  in 
any  State ;  and  to  put  it  in  the  power  of  a  single  State  to  make 
him  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  endue  him  with  the  full 
rights  of  citizenship  in  every  other  State  without  their  consent. 
Does  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  act  upon  him  when 
ever  he  shall  be  made  free  under  the  laws  of  a  State,  and  raised 
there  to  the  rank  of  a  citizen,  and  immediately  clothe  him  with 
all  the  privileges  of  a  citizen  in  every  other  State,  and  in  its  own 
courts  ? 

The  court  think  the  affirmative  of  these  propositions  cannot  be 
maintained.  And  if  it  cannot,  the  plaintiff  in  error  could  not  be  a 
citizen  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  within  the  meaning  of  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  and,  consequently,  was  not  entitled  to 
sue  in  its  courts. 

It  is  true,  every  person,  and  every  class  and  description  of  per 
sons,  who  were  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 


1857]  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION  421 

recognized  as  citizens  in  the  several  States,  became  also  citizens 
of  this  new  political  body;  but  none  other;  it  was  formed  by 
them,  and  for  them  and  their  posterity,  but  for  no  one  else.  And 
the  personal  rights  and  privileges  guarantied  to  citizens  of  this 
new  sovereignty  were  intended  to  embrace  those  only  who  were 
then  members  of  the  several  state  communities,  or  who  should 
afterwards,  by  birthright  or  otherwise,  become  members,  accord 
ing  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  and  the  principles  on 
which  it  was  founded.  It  was  the  union  of  those  who  were  at 
that  time  members  .of  distinct  and  separate  political  communities 
into  one  political  family,  whose  power,  for  certain  specified  pur 
poses,  was  to  extend  over  the  whole  territory  of  the  United  States. 
And  it  gave  to  each  citizen  rights  and  privileges  outside  of  his 
State  which  he  did  not  before  possess,  and  placed  him  in  every 
other  State  upon  a  perfect  equality  with  its  own  citizens  as  to 
rights  of  person  and  rights  of  property ;  it  made  him  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States. 

It  becomes  necessary,  therefore,  to  determine  who  were  citizens 
of  the  several  States  when  the  Constitution  was  adopted.  And  in 
ojder  to  do  this,  we  must  recur  to  the  governments  and  institu 
tions  of  the  thirteen  Colonies,  when  they  separated  from  Great 
Britain  and  formed  new  sovereignties,  and  took  their  places  in  the 
family  of  independent  nations.  We  must  inquire  who,  at  that 
time,  were  recognized  as  the  people  or  citizens  of  a  State,  whose 
rights  and  liberties  had  been  outraged  by  .the  English  government ; 
and  who  declared  their  independence,  and  assumed  the  powers 
of  government  to  defend  their  rights  by  force  of  arms. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  court,  the  legislation  and  histories  of  the 
times,  and  the  language  used  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
show,  that  neither  the  class  of  persons  who  had  been  imported 
as  slaves,  nor  their  descendants,  whether  they  had  become  free 
or  not,  were  then  acknowledged  as  a  part  of  the  people,  nor 
intended  to  be  included  in  the  general  words  used  in  that  memo 
rable  instrument.  .  .  . 

The  legislation  of  the  different  Colonies  furnishes  positive  and 
indisputable  proof  of  this  fact.  .  .  . 

The  language  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  equally 
conclusive.  .  .  . 

This  state  of  public  opinion  had  undergone  no  change  when 
the  Constitution  was  adopted',  as  is  equally  evident  from  its  pro 
visions  and  language. 


422  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION  [March  6 

The  legislation  of  the  States  therefore  shows,  in  a  manner  not 
to  be  mistaken,  the  inferior  and  subject  condition  of  that  race  at 
the  time  the  Constitution  was  adopted,  and  long  afterwards, 
throughout  the  thirteen  States  by  which  that  instrument  was 
framed  ;  and  it  is  hardly  consistent  with  the  respect  due  to  these 
States,  to  suppose  that  they  regarded  at  that  time,  as  fellow-citizens 
and  members  of  the  sovereignty,  a  class  of  beings  whom  they  had 
thus  stigmatized ;  whom,  as  we  are  bound,  out  of  respect  to  the 
State  sovereignties,  to  assume  they  had  deemed  it  just  and  neces 
sary  thus  to  stigmatize,  and  upon  whom  they  had  impressed  such 
deep  and  enduring  marks  of  inferiority  and  degradation  ;  or  that 
when  they  met  in  convention  to  form  the  Constitution,  they  looked 
upon  them  as  a  portion  of  their  constituents,  or  designed  to  include 
them  in  the  provisions  so  carefully  inserted  for  the  security  and 
protection  of  the  liberties  and  rights  of  their  citizens.  It  cannot 
be  supposed  that  they  intended  to  secure  to  them  rights,  and 
privileges,  and  rank,  in  the  new  political  body  throughout  the 
Union,  which  every  one  of  them  denied  within  the  limits  of  its 
own  dominion.  More  especially,  it  cannot  be  believed  that  the 
large  slave-holding  States  regarded  them  as  included  in  the  word 
"citizens,"  or  would  have  consented  to  a  constitution  which  might 
compel  them  to  receive  them  in  that  character  from  another  State. 
For  if  they  were  so  received,  and  entitled  to  the  privileges  and 
immunities  of  citizens,  it  would  exempt  them  from  the  operation 
of  the  special  laws  and  from  the  police  regulations  which  they 
considered  to  be  necessary  for  their  own  safety.  It  would  give 
to  persons  of  the  negro  race,  who  were  recognized  as  citizens  in 
any  one  State  of  the  Union,  the  right  to  enter  every  other  State 
whenever  they  pleased,  singly  or  in  companies,  without  pass  or 
passport,  and  without  obstruction,  to  sojourn  there  as  long  as  they 
pleased,  to  go  where  they  pleased  at  every  hour  of  the  day  or 
night  without  molestation,  unless  they  committed  some  violation 
of  law  for  which  a  white  man  would  be  punished  ;  and  it  would 
give  them  the  full  liberty  of  speech  in  public  and  in  private  upon 
all  subjects  upon  which  its  own  citizens  might  speak ;  to  hold 
public  meetings  upon  political  affairs,  and  to  keep  and  carry  arms 
wherever  they  went.  And  all  of  this  would  be  done  in  the  face 
of  the  subject  race  of  the  same  color,  both  free  and  slaves,  inevi 
tably  producing  discontent  and  insubordination  among  them,  and 
endangering  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  State.  .  .  . 


1857]  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION  423 

To  all  this  mass  of  proof  we  have  still  to  add,  that  Congress 
has  repeatedly  legislated  upon  the  same  construction  of  the  Con 
stitution  that  we  have  given.  .  .  . 

The  conduct  of  the  Executive  Department  of  the  government 
has  been  in  perfect  harmony  upon  this  subject  with  this  course  of 
legislation.  .  .  . 

But  it  is  said  that  a  person  may  be  a  citizen,  and  entitled  to 
that  character,  although  he  does  not  possess  all  the  rights  which 
may  belong  to  other  citizens ;  as,  for  example,  the  right  to  vote, 
or  to  hold  particular  offices ;  and  that  yet,  when  he  goes  into 
another  State,  he  is  entitled  to  be  recognized  there  as  a  citizen, 
although  the  State  may  measure  his  rights  by  the  rights  which  it 
allows  to  persons  of  a  like  character  or  class,  resident  in  the  State, 
and  refuse  to  him  the  full  rights  of  citizenship. 

This  argument  overlooks  the  language  of  the  provision  in  the 
Constitution  of  which  we  are  speaking. 

Undoubtedly,  a  person  may  be  a  citizen,  that  is,  a  member  of 
the  community  who  form  the  sovereignty,  although  he  exercises  no 
share  of  the  political  power,  and  is  incapacitated  from  holding  par 
ticular  offices.  Women  and  minors,  who  form  a  part  of  the  political 
family,  cannot  vote  ;  and  when  a  property  qualification  is  required  to 
vote  or  hold  a  particular  office,  those  who  have  not  the  necessary 
qualification  cannot  vote  or  hold  the  office,  yet  they  are  citizens. 

So,  too,  a  person  may  be  entitled  to  vote  by  the  law  of  the 
State,  who  is  not  a  citizen  even  of  the  State  itself.  And  in  some 
of  the  States  of  the  Union  foreigners  not  naturalized  are  allowed 
to  vote.  And  the  State  may  give  the  right  to  free  negroes  and 
mulattoes,  but  that  does  not  make  them  citizens  of  the  State,  and 
still  less  of  the  United  States.  And  the  provision  in  the  Consti 
tution  giving  privileges  and  immunities  in  other  States,  does  not 
apply  to  them. 

Neither  does  it  apply  to  a  person  who,  being  the  citizen  of  a 
State,  migrates  to  another  State.  For  then  he  becomes  subject 
to  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  he -lives,  and  he  is  no  longer  a 
citizen  of  the  State  from  which  he  removed.  And  the  State  in 
which  he  resides  may  then,  unquestionably,  determine  his  status 
or  condition,  and  place  him  among  t.he  class  of  persons  who  are 
not  recognized  as  citizens,  but  belong  to  an  inferior  and  subject 
race  ;  and  may  deny  him  the  privileges  and  immunities  enjoyed 
by  its  citizens. 


424  DRED   SCOTT   DECISION-  [March  6 

But  so  far  as  mere  rights  of  person  are  concerned,  the  provision 
in  question  is  confined  to  citizens  of  a  State  who  are  temporarily 
in  another  State  without  taking  up  their  residence  there.  It  gives 
them  no  political  rights  in  the  state  as  to  voting  or  holding  office, 
or  in  any  other  respect.  For  a  citizen  of  one  State  has  no  right 
to  participate  in  the  government  of  another.  But  if  he  ranks  as 
a  citizen  of  the  State  to  which  he  belongs,  within  the  meaning  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  then,  whenever  he  goes  into 
another  State,  the  Constitution  clothes  him,  as  to  the  rights  of 
person,  with  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  which  belong  to 
citizens  of  the  State.  And  if  persons  of  the  African  race  are  citi 
zens  of  a  state,  and  of  the  United  States,  they  would  be  entitled 
to  all  of  these  privileges  and  immunities  in  every  State,  and  the 
State  could  not  restrict  them  ;  for  they  would  hold  these  privileges 
and  immunities,  under  the  paramount  authority  of  the  Federal 
Government,  and  its  courts  would  be  bound  to  maintain  and  en 
force  them,  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.  And  if  the  State  could  limit  or  restrict  them,  or 
place  the  party  in  an  inferior  grade,  this  clause  of  the  Constitu 
tion  would  be  unmeaning,  and  could  have  no  operation ;  and 
would  give  no  rights  to  the  citizen  when  in  another  State.  He 
would  have  none  but  what  the  State  itself  chose  to  allow  him. 
This  is  evidently  not  the  construction  or  meaning  of  the  clause  in 
question.  It  guaranties  rights  to  the  citizen,  and  the  State  cannot 
withhold  them.  And  these  rights  are  of  a  character  and  would 
lead  to  consequences  which  make  it  absolutely  certain  that  the 
African  race  were  not  included  under  the  name  of  citizens  of  a 
State,  and  were  not  in  the  contemplation  of  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  when  these  privileges  and  immunities  were  provided 
for  the  protection  of  the  citizen  in  other  States.  .  .  . 

No  one,  we  presume,  supposes  that  any  change  in  public  opin 
ion  or  feeling,  in  relation  to  this  unfortunate  race,  in  the  civilized 
nations  of  Europe  or  in  this  country,  should  induce  the  court  to 
give  to  the  words  of  the  Constitution  a  more  liberal  construction 
in  their  favor  than  they  were  intended  to  bear  when  the  instru 
ment  was  framed  and  adopted.  Such  an  argument  would  be  alto 
gether  inadmissible  in  any  tribunal  called  on  to  interpret  it.  If 
any  of  its  provisions  are  deemed  unjust,  there  is  a  mode  pre 
scribed  in  the  instrument  itself  by  which  it  may  be  amended  ;  but 
while  it  remains  unaltered,  it  must  be  construed  now  as  it  was 


1857]  DRED   SCOTT   DECISION  425 

understood  at  the  time  of  its  adoption.  .  .  .  Any  other  rule  of 
construction  would  abrogate  the  judicial  character  of  this  court, 
and  make  it  the  mere  reflex  of  the  popular  opinion  or  passion  of 
the  day.  .  .  .  What  the  construction  was  at  that  time,  we  think 
can  hardly  admit  of  doubt.  .  .  .  And  if  anything  in  relation  to 
the  construction  of  the  Constitution  can  be  regarded  as  settled,  it 
is  that  which  we  now  give  to  the  word  "citizen"  and  the  word 
"people." 

And  upon  a  full  and  careful  consideration  of  the  subject,  the 
court  is  of  opinion  that,  upon  the  facts  stated  in  the  plea  in  abate 
ment,  Dred  Scott  was  not  a  citizen  of  Missouri  within  the  meaning 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  not  entitled  as  such 
to  sue  in  its  courts;  and,  consequently,  that  the  Circuit  Court 
had  no  jurisdiction  of  the  case,  and  that  the  judgment  on  the  plea 
in  abatement  is  erroneous.  .  .  . 

We  proceed,  therefore,  to  inquire  whether  the  facts  relied  on  by 
the  plaintiff  entitled  him  to  his  freedom.  .  .  . 

In  considering  this  part  of  the  controversy,  two  questions  arise : 
ist,  Was  he,  together  with  his  family,  free  in  Missouri  by  reason 
of  the  stay  in  the  territory  of  the  United  States  hereinbefore  men 
tioned  ?  And  2d,  If  they  were  not,  is  Scott  himself  free  by  reason 
of  his  removal  to  Rock  Island,  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  as  stated  in 
the  above  admissions? 

We  proceed  to  examine  the  first  question. 

The  Act  of  Congress,  upon  which  the  plaintiff  relies,  declares 
that  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for 
crime,  shall  be  forever  prohibited  in  all  that  part  of  the  territory 
ceded  by  France,  under  the  name  of  Louisiana,  which  lies  north 
of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes  north  latitude,  and  not  included 
within  the  limits  of  Missouri.  And  the  difficulty  which  meets  us 
at  the  threshold  of  this  part  of  the  inquiry  is,  whether  Congress 
was  authorized  to  pass  this  law  under  any  of  the  powers  granted 
to  it  by  the  Constitution ;  for  if  the  authority  is  not  given  by  that 
instrument,  it  is  the  duty  of  this  court  to  declare  it  void  and  inop 
erative,  and  incapable  of  conferring  freedom  upon  any  one  who  is 
held  as  a  slave  under  the  laws  of  any  one  of  the  States. 

The  counsel  for  the  plaintiff  has  laid  much  stress  upon  that  arti 
cle  in  the  Constitution  which  confers  on  Congress  the  power  "  to 
dispose  of  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting 
the  territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States ; " 


426  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION  [March  6 

but,  in  the  judgment  of  the  court,  that  provision  has  no  bearing 
on  the  present  controversy,  and  the  power  there  given,  whatever 
it  may  be,  is  confined,  and  was  intended  to  be  confined,  to  the 
territory  which  at  that  time  belonged  to,  or  was  claimed  by,  the 
United  States,  and  was  within  their  boundaries  as  settled  by 
the  Treaty  with  Great  Britain,  and  can  have  no  influence  upon  a 
territory  afterwards  acquired  from  a  foreign  government.  It  was 
a  special  provision  for  a  known  and  particular  Territory,  and  to 
meet  a  present  emergency,  and  nothing  more.  .  .  . 

At  the  time  when  the  Territory  in  question  was  obtained  by 
cession  from  France,  it  contained  no  population  fit  to  be  associ 
ated  together  and  admitted  as  a  State ;  and  it  therefore  was  abso 
lutely  necessary  to  hold  possession  of  it  as  a  Territory  belonging 
to  the  United  States  until  it  was  settled  and  inhabited  by  a  civil 
ized  community  capable  of  self-government,  and  in  a  condition  to 
be  admitted  on  equal  terms  with  the  other  States  as  a  member  of 
the  Union.  But,  as  we  have  before  said,  it  was  acquired  by  the 
general  government  as  the  representative  and  trustee  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States,  and  it  must,  therefore,  be  held  in  that 
character  for  their  common  and  equal  benefit ;  for  it  was  the  peo 
ple  of  the  several  States,  acting  through  their  agent  and  represent 
ative,  the  Federal  Government,  who  in  fact  acquired  the  territory 
in  question,  and  the  government  holds  it  for  their  common  use 
until  it  shall  be  associated  with  the  other  States  as  a  member  of 
the  Union. 

But  until  that  time  arrives,  it  is  undoubtedly  necessary  that 
some  government  should  be  established,  in  order  to  organize 
society,  and  to  protect  the  inhabitants  in  their  persons  and  prop 
erty  ;  and  as  the  people  of  the  United  States  could  act  in  this 
matter  only  through  the  government  which  represented  them,  and 
through  which  they  spoke  and  acted  when  the  territory  was  ob 
tained,  it  was  not  only  within  the  scope  of  its  powers,  but  it  was 
its  duty  to  pass  such  laws  and  establish  such  a  government  as 
would  enable  those  by  whose  authority  they  acted  to  reap  the  ad 
vantages  anticipated  from  its  acquisition,  and  to  gather  there  a 
population  which  would  enable  it  to  assume  the  position  to  which 
it  was  destined  among  the  States  of  the  Union.  .  .  . 

It  seems,  however,  to  be  supposed,  that  there  is  a  difference 
between  property  in  a  slave  and  other  property,  and  that  different 
rules  may  be  applied  to  it  in  expounding  the  Constitution  of  the 


1857]  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION  427 

United  States.  And  the  laws  and  usages  of  nations,  and  the  writ 
ings  of  eminent  jurists  upon  the  relation  of  master  and  slave  and 
their  mutual  rights  and  duties,  and  the  powers  which  governments 
may  exercise  over  it,  have  been  dwelt  upon  in  the  argument. 

But  in  considering  the  question  before  us,  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  there  is  no  law  of  nations  standing  between  the  people 
of  the  United  States  and  their  government  and  interfering  with 
their  relation  to  each  other.  The  powers  of  the  government,  and 
the  rights  of  the  citizen  under  it,  are  positive  and  practical  regula 
tions  plainly  written  down.  The  people  of  the  United  States  have 
delegated  to  it  certain  enumerated  powers,  and  forbidden  it  to 
exercise  others.  It  has  no  power  over  the  person  or  property  of 
a  citizen  but  what  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  have  granted. 
And  no  laws  or  usages  of  other  nations,  or  reasoning  of  statesmen 
or  jurists  upon  the  relations  of  master  and  slave,  can  enlarge  the 
powers  of  the  government,  or  take  from  the  citizens  the  rights 
they  have  reserved.  And  if  the  Constitution  recognizes  the  right 
of  property  of  the  master  in  a  slave,  and  makes  no  distinction 
between  that  description  of  property  and  other  property  owned 
by  a  citizen,  no  tribunal,  acting  under  the  authority  of  the  United 
States,  whether  it  be  legislative,  executive,  or  judicial,  has  a  right 
to  draw  such  a  distinction,  or  deny  to  it  the  benefit  of  the  provi 
sions  and  guarantees  which  have  been  provided  for  the  protection 
of  private  property  against  the  encroachments  of  the  government. 

Now,  as  we  have  already  said  in  an  earlier  part  of  this  opinion, 
upon  a  different  point,  the  right  of  property  in  a  slave  is  distinctly 
and  expressly  affirmed  in  the  Constitution.  The  right  to  traffic 
in  it,  like  an  ordinary  article  of  merchandise  and  property,  was 
guarantied  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  every  State  that 
might  desire  it,  for  twenty  years.  And  the  government  in  express 
terms  is  pledged  to  protect  it  in  all  future  time,  if  the  slave  escapes 
from  his  owner.  This  is  done  in  plain  words  —  too  plain  to  be 
misunderstood.  And  no  word  can  be  found  in  the  Constitution 
which  gives  Congress  a  greater  power  over  slave  property,  or  which 
entitles  property  of  that  kind  to  less  protection  than  property  of 
any  other  description.  The  only  power  conferred  is  the  power 
coupled  with  the  duty  of  guarding  and  protecting  the  owner  in  his 
rights. 

Upon  these  considerations,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  court  that 
the  Act  of  Congress  which  prohibited  a  citizen  from  holding  and 


428  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION  [March  6 

owning  property  of  this  kind  in  the  territory  of  the  United  States 
north  of  the  line  therein  mentioned,  is  not  warranted  by  the  Con 
stitution,  and  is  therefore  void ;  and  that  neither  Dred  Scott  him 
self,  nor  any  of  his  family,  were  made  free  by  being  carried  into 
this  territory ;  even  if  they  had  been  carried  there  by  the  owner, 
with  the  intention  of  becoming  a  permanent  resident.  .  .  . 

But  there  is  another  point  in  the  case  which  depends  on  state 
power  and  state  law.  And  it  is  contended,  on  the  part  of  the 
plaintiff,  that  he  is  made  free  by  being  taken  to  Rock  Island,  in 
the  State  of  Illinois,  independently  of  his  residence  in  the  territory 
of  the  United  States ;  and  being  so  made  free,  he  was  not  again 
reduced  to  a  state  of  slavery  by  being  brought  back  to  Missouri. 

Our  notice  of  this  part  of  the  case  will  be  very  brief;  for  the 
principle  on  which  it  depends  was  decided  in  this  court,  upon 
much  consideration,  in  the  case  of  Strader  et  al.  v.  Graham,  re 
ported  in  loth  Howard,  82.  In  that  case,  the  slaves  had  been 
taken  from  Kentucky  to  Ohio,  with  the  consent  of  the  owner,  and 
afterwards  brought  back  to  Kentucky.  And  this  court  held  that 
their  status  or  condition,  as  free  or  slave,  depended  upon  the 
laws  of  Kentucky,  when  they  were  brought  back  into  that  State, 
and  not  of  Ohio  ;  and  that  this  court  had  no  jurisdiction  to  revise 
the  judgment  of  a  state  court  upon  its  own  laws.  .  .  . 

So  in  this  case  :  as  Scott  was  a  slave  when  taken  into  the  State 
of  Illinois  by  his  owner,  and  was  there  held  as  such,  and  brought 
back  in  that  character,  his  status,  as  free  or  slave,  depended  on 
the  laws  of  Missouri,  and  not  of  Illinois. 

It  has,  however,  been  urged  in  the  argument,  that  by  the  laws 
of  Missouri  he  was  free  on  his  return,  and  that  this  case,  there 
fore,  cannot  be  governed  by  the  case  of  Strader  et  al.  v.  Graham, 
where  it  appeared,  by  the  laws  of  Kentucky,  that  the  plaintiffs 
continued  to  be  slaves  on  their  return  from  Ohio.  But  whatever 
doubts  or  opinions  may,  at  one  time,  have  been  entertained  upon 
this  subject,  we  are  satisfied,  upon  a  careful  examination  of  all 
the  cases  decided  in  the  State  courts  of  Missouri  referred  to,  that 
it  is  now  firmly  settled  by  the  decisions  of  the  highest  court  in 
the  State,  that  Scott  and  his  family  upon  their  return  were  not 
free,  but  were,  by  the  laws  of  Missouri,  the  property  of  the  de 
fendant  ;  and  that  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  had  no 
jurisdiction,  when,  by  the  laws  of  the  State,  the  plaintiff  was  a 
slave,  and  not  a  citizen.  .  .  . 


1857]  -  DRED    SCOTT  DECISION  429 

Upon  the  whole,  therefore,  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  court, 
that  it  appears  by  the  record  before  us  that  the  plaintiff  in  error 
is  not  a  citizen  of  Missouri,  in  the  sense  in  which  that  word  is 
used  in  the  Constitution ;  and  that  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States,  for  that  reason,  had  no  jurisdiction  in  the  case? 
and  could  give  no  judgment  in  it. 

Its  judgment  for  the  defendant  must,  consequently,  be  reversed, 
and  a  mandate  issued  directing  the  suit  to  be  dismissed  for  want 
of  ju  r  is  die  tio  n . 

[Justice  Wayne  concurred  in  the  opinion  of  the  court,  and 
undertook  to  show  that  the  court  had  not  acted  extrajudicially  in 
giving  an  opinion  on  the  constitutionality  of  the  Missouri  com 
promise.] 

JUSTICE  NELSON'S  OPINION 

I  shall  proceed  to  state  the  grounds  upon  which  I  have  arrived 
at  the  conclusion  that  the  judgment  of  the  court  below  should  be 
affirmed.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  The  question  upon  the  merits,  in  general  terms,  is  whether 
or  not  the  removal  of  the  plaintiff,  who  was  a  slave,  with  his  mas 
ter,  from  the  State  of  Missouri  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  with  a 
view  to  a  temporary  residence,  and  after  such  residence  and  re 
turn  to  the  slave  State,  such  residence  in  the  free  State  works  an 
emancipation. 

As  appears  from  an  agreed  statement  of  facts,  this  question 
has  been  before  the  highest  court  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  a 
judgment  rendered  that  this  residence  in  the  free  State  has  no 
such  effect ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  his  original  condition  con 
tinued  unchanged. 

The  court  below,  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for 
Missouri,  in  which  this  suit  was  afterwards  brought,  followed  the 
decision  of  the  State  court,  and  rendered  a  like  judgment  against 
the  plaintiff. 

•The  argument  against  these  decisions  is,  that  the  laws  of  Illinois, 
forbidding  slavery  within  her  territory,  had  the  effect  to  set  the 
slave  free  while  residing  in  that  State,  and  to  impress  upon  him 
the  condition  and  status  of  a  freeman  ;  and  that,  by  force  of  these 
laws,  this  status  and  condition  accompanied  him  on  his  return  to 
the  slave  State,  and  of  consequence  he  could  not  be  there  held  as 
a  slave. 


430  DRED   SCOTT   DECISION  [March  6 

This  question  has  been  examined  in  the  courts  of  several  of 
the  slaveholding  States,  and  different  opinions  expressed  and  con 
clusions  arrived  at.  We  shall  hereafter  refer  to  some  of  them, 
and  to  the  principles  upon  which  they  are  founded.  Our  opinion 
is,  that  the  question  is  one  which  belongs  to  each  State  to  decide 
for  itself,  either  by  its  Legislature  or  courts  of  justice  ;  and  hence 
in  respect  to  the  case  before  us,  to  the  State  of  Missouri  —  a 
question  exclusively  of  Missouri  law,  and  which,  when  determined 
by  that  State,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  federal  courts  to  follow  it.  In 
other  words,  except  in  cases  where  the  power  is  restrained  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  law  of  the  State  is  supreme 
over  the  subject  of  slavery  within  its  jurisdiction.  .  .  . 

The  remaining  question  for  consideration  is  :  what  is  the  law 
of  the  State  of  Missouri  on  this  subject.  ...  As  we  have  al 
ready  stated,  this  case  was  originally  brought  in  the  Circuit  Court 
of  the  State,  which  resulted  in  a  judgment  for  the  plaintiff.  The 
case  was  carried  up  to  the  Supreme  Court  for  revision.  That 
court  reversed  the  judgment  below,  and  remanded  the  cause  to 
the  Circuit,  for  a  new  trial.  In  that  state  of  the  proceeding,  a 
new  suit  was  brought  by  the  plaintiff  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States,  and  tried  upon  the  issues  and  agreed  case  before 
us,  and  a  verdict  and  judgment  for  the  defendant,  that  court  fol 
lowing  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  The 
judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  reported  in  the  15  Mo.,  p.  576. 
The  court  placed  the  decision  upon  the  temporary  residence  of 
the  master  with  the  slaves  in  the  State  and  territory  to  which  they 
removed,  and  their  return  to  the  slave  State ;  and  upon  the  prin 
ciples  of  international  law,  that  foreign  laws  have  no  extraterri 
torial  force,  except  such  as  the  State  within  which  they  are  sought 
to  be  enforced  may  see  fit  to  extend  to  them,  upon  the  doctrine 
of  comity  of  nations.  .  .  . 

[Justice  Grier  concurred  in  the  opinion  of  Justice  Nelson  on 
the  questions  discussed  by  the  latter,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the 
court  as  to  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  Missouri  compromise. 
Justices  Daniel,  Campbell,  and  Catron  concurred  in  the  general 
positions  taken  in  the  opinion  of  the  court,  but  dissented  on 
various  law  points.  Justices  McLean  and  Curtis  dissented,  the 
opinion  of  Curtis  being  the  more  important.] 


1857]  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION  431 

JUSTICE  CURTIS'S  DISSENTING  OPINION 

[After  a  learned  discussion  of  law  points,  the  opinion  con 
tinues  :] 

So  that,  under  the  allegations  contained  in  this  plea,  and  ad 
mitted  by  the  demurrer,  the  question  is,  whether  any  person  of 
African  descent,  whose  ancestors  were  sold  as  slaves  in  the  United 
States,  can  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  If  any  such  person 
can  be  a  citizen,  this  plaintiff  has  the  right  to  the  judgment  of 
the  court  that  he  is  so ;  for  no  cause  is  shown  by  the  plea  why  he 
is  not  so,  except  his  descent  and  the  slavery  of  his  ancestors. 

The  ist  Section  of  the  2d  Article  of  the  Constitution  uses  the 
language,  "  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitution."  One  mode  of  approaching  this  ques 
tion  is,  to  inquire  who  were  citizens  of  the  United  States  at  the 
time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution. 

Citizens  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  can  have  been  no  other  than  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  under  the  Confederation.  .  .  . 

To  determine  whether  any  free  persons,  descended  from  Africans 
held  in  slavery,  were  citizens  of  the  United  States  under  the  Con 
federation,  and  consequently  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  it  is  only  necessary  to  know 
whether  any  such  persons  were  citizens  of  either  of  the  States 
under  the  Confederation  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitution. 

Of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt.  At  the  time  of  the  ratification 
of  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  all  free  native-born  inhabitants  of 
the  States  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  New  York,  New 
Jersey  and  North  Carolina,  though  descended  from  African  slaves, 
were  not  only  citizens  of  those  States,  but  such  of  them  as  had  the 
other  necessary  qualifications  possessed  the  franchise  of  electors, 
on  equal  terms  with  other  citizens.  .  .  . 

I  can  find  nothing  in  the  Constitution  which,  proprio  vigore, 
deprives  of  their  citizenship  any  class  of  persons  who  were  citizens 
of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  its  adoption,  or  who  should  be 
native-born  citizens  of  any  State  after  its  adoption  ;  nor  any  power 
enabling  Congress  to  disfranchise  persons  born  on  the  soil  of  any 
State,  and  entitled  to  citizenship  of  such  State  by  its  constitution 
and  laws.  And  my  opinion  is,  that,  under  the  Constitution  of  the 


432  DRED   SCOTT   DECISION  [March  6 

United  States,  every  free  person  born  on  the  soil  of  a  State,  who  is 
a  citizen  of  that  State  by  force  of  its  Constitution  or  laws,  is  also  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States.  .  .  . 

The  Constitution  having  recognized  the  rule  that  persons  born 
within  the  several  States  are  citizens  of  the  United  States,  one  of 
four  things  must  be  true  : 

First.  That  the  Constitution  itself  has  described  what  native- 
born  persons  shall  or  shall  not  be  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  or, 

Second.     That  it  has  empowered  Congress  to  do  so  ;  or, 

Third.  That  all  free  persons,  born  within  the  several  States, 
are  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  or, 

Fourth.  That  it  is  left  to  each  State  to  determine  what  free 
persons,  born  within  its  limits,  shall  be  citizens  of  such  State,-  and 
thereby  be  citizens  of  the  United  States.  .  .  . 

The  conclusions  at  which  I  have  arrived  on  this  part  of  the  case 
are  : 

First.  That  the  free  native-born  citizens  of  each  State  are 
citizens  of  the  United  States. 

Second.  That  as  free  colored  persons  born  within  some  of  the 
States  are  citizens  of  those  States,  such  persons  are  also  citizens  of 
the  United  States. 

Third.  That  every  such  citizen,  residing  in  any  State,  has  the 
right  to  sue  and  is  liable  to  be  sued  in  the  federal  courts,  as  a 
citizen  of  that  State  in  which  he  resides. 

Fourth.  That  as  the  plea  to  the  jurisdiction  in  this  case  shows 
no  facts,  except  that  the  plaintiff  was  of  African  descent,  and  his 
ancestors  were  sold  as  slaves,  and  as  these  facts  are  not  inconsist 
ent  with  his  citizenship  of  the  United  States,  and  his  residence  in 
the  State  of  Missouri,  the  plea  to  the  jurisdiction  was  bad,  and  the 
judgment  of  the  Circuit  Court  overruling  it,  was  correct. 

I  dissent,  therefore,  from  that  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  majority 
of  the  court,  in  which  it  is  held  that  a  person  of  African  descent 
cannot  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States ;  and  I  regret  I  must  go 
further,  and  dissent  both  from  what  I  deem  their  assumption  of 
authority  to  examine  the  constitutionality  of  the  Act  of  Congress 
commonly  called  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act,  and  the  grounds 
and  conclusions  announced  in  their  opinion.  .  .  . 

But  as,  in  my  opinion,  the  Circuit  Court  had  jurisdiction,  I  am 
obliged  to  consider  the  question  whether  its  judgment  on  the 
merits  of  the  case  should  stand  or  be  reversed. 


1857]  DRED   SCOTT   DECISION  433 

The  residence  of  the  plaintiff  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  the 
residence  of  himself  and  his  wife  in  the  Territory  acquired  from 
France  lying  north  of  latitude  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes, 
and  north  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  are  each  relied  on  by  the 
plaintiff  in  error.  As  the  residence  in  the  Territory  affects  the 
plaintiffs  wife  and  children  as  well  as  himself,  I  must  inquire  what 
was  its  effect. 

The  general  question  may  be  stated  to  be,  whether  the  plaintiff's 
status,  as  a  slave,  was  so  changed  by  his  residence  within  that  Ter 
ritory,  that  he  was  not  a  slave  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  at  the  time 
this  action  was  brought. 

In  such  cases,  two  inquiries  arise,  which  may  be  confounded,  but 
should  be  kept  distinct. 

The  first  is,  what  was  the  law  of  the  Territory  into  which  the 
master  and  slave  went,  respecting  the  relation  between  them  ? 

The  second  is,  whether  the  State  of  Missouri  recognizes  and 
allows  the  effect  of  that  law  of  the  Territory,  on  the  status  of  the 
slave,  on  his  return  within  its  jurisdiction.  .  .  . 

To  avoid  misapprehension  on  this  important  and  difficult  sub 
ject,  1  will  state,  distinctly,  the  conclusions  at  which  I  have  arrived. 
They  are  : 

First.  The  rules  of  international  law  respecting  the  emancipa 
tion  of  slaves,  by  the  rightful  operation  of  the  laws  of  another 
State  or  country  upon  the  status  of  the  slave,  while  resident  in  such 
foreign  State  or  country,  are  part  of  the  common  law  of  Missouri, 
and  have  not  been  abrogated  by  any  statute  law  of  that  State. 

Second.  The  laws  of  the  United  States,  constitutionally  enacted, 
which  operated  directly  on  and  changed  the  status  of  a  slave  com 
ing  into  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  with  his  master,  who  went  thither 
to  reside  for  an  indefinite  length  of  time,  in  the  performance  of 
his  duties  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  had  a  rightful  opera 
tion  on  the  status  of  the  slave,  and  it  is  in  conformity  with  the 
rules  of  international  law  that  this  change  of  status  should  be 
recognized  everywhere. 

Third.  The  laws  of  the  United  States,  in  operation  in  the  Ter 
ritory  of  Wisconsin  at  the  time  of  the  plaintiff's  residence  there, 
did  act  directly  on  the  status  of  the  plaintiff,  and  change  his 
status  to  that  of  a  free  man.  .  .  . 

Fifth.  That  the  consent  of  the  master  that  his  slave,  residing 
in  a  country  which  does  not  tolerate  slavery,  may  enter  into  a 

2  F 


434  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION  [March  6 

lawful  contract  of  marriage,  attended  with  the  civil  rights  and 
duties  which  belong  to  that  condition,  is  an  effectual  act  of  eman 
cipation.  And  the  law  does  not  enable  Dr.  Emerson,  or  anyone 
claiming  under  him,  to  assert  a  title  to  the  married  persons  as 
slaves,  and  thus  destroy  the  obligation  of  the  contract  of  marriage, 
and  bastardize  their  issue,  and  reduce  them  to  slavery.  .  .  . 

I  have  thus  far  assumed,  merely  for  the  purpose  of  the  argu 
ment,  that  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  respecting  slavery  in  this 
Territory,  were  Constitutionally  enacted  by  Congress.  It  remains 
to  inquire  whether  they  are  constitutional  and  binding  laws.  .  .  . 

But  it  is  insisted,  that  whatever  other  power  Congress  may  have 
respecting  the  Territory  of  the  United  States,  the  subject  of  negro 
slavery  forms  an  exception.  .  .  . 

While  the  regulation  is  one  "  respecting  the  Territory,"  while  it 
is,  in  the  judgment  of  Congress,  "a  needful  regulation,"  and  is 
thus  completely  within  the  words  of  the  grant,  while  no  other 
clause  of  the  Constitution  can  be  shown,  which  requires  the  inser 
tion  of  an  exception  respecting  slavery,  and  while  the  practical 
construction  for  a  period  of  upwards  of  fifty  years  forbids  such  an 
exception,  it  would,  in  my  opinion,  violate  every  sound  rule  of 
interpretation  to  force  that  exception  into  the  Constitution  upon 
the  strength  of  abstract  political  reasoning,  which  we  are  bound 
to  believe  the  people  of  the  United  States  thought  insufficient  to 
induce  them  to  limit  the  power  of  Congress,  because  what  they 
have  said  contains  no  such  limitation.  .  .  . 

But  it  is  further  insisted  that  the  Treaty  of  1803,  between  the 
United  States  and  France,  by  which  this  Territory  was  acquired, 
has  so  restrained  the  constitutional  powers  of  Congress,  that  it 
cannot,  by  law,  prohibit  the  introduction  of  slavery  into  that  part 
of  this  Territory  north  and  west  of  Missouri,  and  north  of  thirty- 
six  degrees  thirty  minutes  north  latitude. 

By  a  treaty  with  a  foreign  nation,  the  United  States  may  right 
fully  stipulate  that  the  Congress  will  or  will  not  exercise  its 
legislative  power  in  some  particular  manner,  on  some  particular 
subject.  .  .  .  But  that  a  treaty  with  a  foreign  nation  can  deprive 
the  Congress  of  any  part  of  the  legislative  power  conferred  by  the 
people,  so  that  it  no  longer  can  legislate  as  it  was  empowered  by 
the  Constitution  to  do,  I  more  than  doubt.  .  .  . 

But,  in  my  judgment,  this  Treaty  contains  no  stipulation  in  any 
manner  affecting  the  action  of  the  United  States  respecting  the 


1857]  LECOMPTON  CONSTITUTION  435 

Territory  in  question.  ...  In  my  opinion,  this  Treaty  has  no 
bearing  on  the  present  question. 

For  these  reasons,  I  am  of  opinion  that  so  much  of  the  several 
Acts  of  Congress  as  prohibited  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude 
within  that  part  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  lying  north  of  thirty- 
six  degrees  thirty  minutes  north  latitude,  and  west  of  the  River 
Mississippi,  were  constitutional  and  valid  laws.  .  .  . 

In  my  opinion,  the  judgment  of  the  Circuit  Court  should  be  re 
versed,  and  the  cause  remanded  for  a  new  trial. 


No.   92.     Lecompton   Constitution 

November  7,  1857 

A  FREE  State  convention  sitting  at  Topeka,  in  Kansas  Territory,  from  Oct. 
23  to  Nov.  5,  1855,  drew  up  a  State  constitution  prohibiting  slavery,  which 
was  submitted  to  the  people  Dec.  15,  and  adopted  by  a  vote  of  1,731  to  46, 
only  free  State  men  voting.  A  bill  to  admit  Kansas  under  this  constitution 
passed  the  House  July  3,  1856,  but  failed  in  the  Senate.  A  free  State  legis 
lature,  assuming  to  meet  under  the  Topeka  constitution,  was  dispersed  by  the 
United  States  troops,  and  a  period  of  civil  war  in  the  Territory  followed. 
September  5,  1857,  a  convention  called  by  the  proslavery  legislature  of  the  Ter 
ritory  met  at  Lecompton  and  drew  up  a  constitution,  which  was  submitted  to 
the  people  for  adoption  "  with  slavery  "  or  "  without  slavery."  The  free  State 
men,  who  objected  to  having  the  Lecompton  constitution  on  any  terms,  re 
frained  from  voting,  and  Dec.  21  the  constitution  "with  slavery"  was  adopted 
by  a  vote  of  6,143,  against  589  for  the  constitution  "  without  slavery."  In  the 
meantime,  however,  the  free  State  party  had  got  control  of  the  Territorial 
legislature,  and  Jan.  4,  1858,  the  constitution  was  rejected  by  a  majority  of 
more  than  10,000.  A  bill  to  admit  Kansas  under  the  Lecompton  constitution 
passed  the  Senate  March  23,  1858,  by  a  vote  of  33  to  25.  April  i  the  House, 
by  a  vote  of  I2O  to  1 1 2,  substituted  a  bill  resubmitting  the  constitution  to 
popular  vote.  The  two  Houses  then  compromised  on  the  "  English  bill "  (act 
of  May  4,  1858),  "  according  to  which  a  substitute  for  the  land  ordinance  of 
the  Lecompton  constitution  was  to  be  submitted  to  popular  vote  in  Kansas; 
if  it  was  accepted,  the  State  was  to  be  considered  as  admitted;  if  it  was  re 
jected,  the  Lecompton  constitution  was  to  be  considered  as  rejected  by  the 
people,  and  no  further  constitutional  convention  was  to  be  held  until  a  census 
should  have  shown  that  the  population  of  the  Territory  equalled  or  exceeded 
that  required  for  a  representative"  (Johnston).  August  3  the  land  ordinance 
was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  11,088  to  1,788.  The  Wyandotte  constitution,  pro 
hibiting  slavery,  was  ratified  by  popular  vote  Oct.  4,  1859.  Under  this  consti 
tution  Kansas  was  admitted  to  the  Union  Jan.  29,  1861. 

The  following  extracts  comprise  the  provisions  of  the  Lecompton  constitu 
tion  relating  to  slavery,  the  status  of  negroes,  and  ratification. 


436  LECOMPTON   CONSTITUTION  [Nov.  7 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  Poore's  Federal  and  State  Constitutions,  I.,  598- 
613,  passim.  For  the  struggle  in  Congress  over  the  admission  of  Kansas,  see 
the  House  and  Senate  Journals,  34th,  35th,  and  36th  Cong.,  and  the  Cong. 
Globe.  For  general  references,  see  under  No.  90. 

ARTICLE  V.  * 

SEC.  25.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  civil  officers  of  this  State  to 
use  due  diligence  in  the  securing  and  rendition  of  persons  held 
to  service  or  labor  in  this  State,  either  of  the  States  or  Territories 
of  the  United  States ;  and  the  legislature  shall  enact  such  laws  as 
may  be  necessary  for  the  honest  and  faithful  carrying  out  of  this 
provision  of  the  constitution. 

ARTICLE  VII. 
SLAVERY. 

SECTION  i.  The  right  of  property  is  before  and  higher  than  any 
constitutional  sanction,  and  the  right  of  the  owner  of  a  slave  to 
such  slave  and  its  increase  is  the  same,  and  as  inviolable  as  the 
right  of  the  owner  of  any  property  whatever. 

SEC.  2.  The  legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  pass  laws  for 
the  emancipation  of  slaves  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  or 
without  paying  the  owners  previous  to  their  emancipation  a  full 
equivalent  in  money  for  the  slaves  so  emancipated.  They  shall 
have  no  power  to  prevent  emigrants  to  the  State  from  bringing 
with  them  such  persons  as  are  deemed  slaves  by  the  laws  of  any 
one  of  the  United  States  or  Territories,  so  long  as  any  person  of 
the  same  age  or  description  shall  be  continued  in  slavery  by  the 
laws  of  this  State  :  Provided,  That  such  person  or  slave  be  the 
dona-fide  property  of  such  emigrants  :  And  provided  also,  That 
laws  may  be  passed  to  prohibit  the  introduction  into  this  State  of 
slaves  who  have  committed  high  crimes  in  other  States  or  Terri 
tories.  They  shall  have  power  to  pass  laws  to  permit  the  owners 
of  slaves  to  emancipate  them,  saving  the  rights  of  creditors,  and 
preventing  them  from  becoming  a  public  charge.  They  shall  have 
power  to  oblige  the  owners  of  slaves  to  treat  them  with  humanity, 
to  provide  for  them  necessary  food  and  clothing,  to  abstain  from 
all  injuries  to  them  extending  to  life  or  limb,  and,  in  case  of  their 
neglect  or  refusal  to  comply  with  the  direction  of  such  laws,  to 
have  such  slave  or  slaves  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  owner  or 
owners. 


1857]  LECOMPTON  CONSTITUTION  437 

SEC.  3.  In  the  prosecution  of  slaves  for  crimes  of  higher  grade 
than  petit  larceny,  the  legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  deprive 
them  of  an  impartial  trial  by  a  petit  jury. 

SEC.  4.  Any  person  who  shall  maliciously  dismember  or  de 
prive  a  slave  of  life  shall  suffer  such  punishment  as  would  be 
inflicted  in  case  the  like  offence  had  been  committed  on  a  free 
white  person,  and  on  the  like  proof,  except  in  case  of  insurrection 
of  such  slave. 

BILL  OF  RIGHTS. 

23.  Free  negroes  shall  not  be  permitted  to  live  in  this  State 
under  any  circumstances. 

SCHEDULE. 

SEC.  7.  This  constitution  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  at  its  next  ensuing  session,  .  .  . 

Before  this  constitution  shall  be  sent  to  Congress,  asking  for 
admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  it  shall  be  submitted  to  all 
the  white  male  inhabitants  of  this  Territory,  for  approval  or  dis 
approval,  as  follows  :  .  .  .  The  voting  shall  be  by  ballot.  The 
judges  of  said  election  shall  cause  to  be  kept  two  poll-books  by 
two  clerks,  by  them  appointed.  The  ballots  cast  at  said  election 
shall  be  endorsed,  "  Constitution  with  slavery,"  and  "  Constitution 
with  no  slavery."  One  of  said  poll-books  shall  be  returned  within 
eight  days  to  the  president  of  this  convention,  and  the  other  shall 
be  retained  by  the  judges  of  election  and  kept  open  for  inspec 
tion.  The  president,  with  two  or  more  members  of  this  conven 
tion,  shall  examine  said  poll-books,  and  if  it  shall  appear  upon  said 
examination  that  a  majority  of  the  legal  votes  cast  at  said  election 
be  in  favor  of  the  "Constitution  with  slavery,"  he  shall  immediately 
have  the  same  transmitted  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  as 
hereinbefore  provided  ;  but  if,  upon  such  examination  of  said  poll- 
books,  it  shall  appear  that  a  majority  of  the  legal  votes  cast  at  said 
election  be  in  favor  of  the  "  Constitution  with  no  slavery,"  then  the 
article  providing  for  slavery  shall  be  stricken  from  this  constitution 
by  the  president  of  this  convention,  and  slavery  shall  no  longer 
exist  in  the  State  of  Kansas,  except  that  the  right  of  property  in 
slaves  now  in  this  Territory  shall  in  no  manner  be  interfered  with, 
and  shall,  have  transmitted  the  constitution,  so  ratified,  (to  Con 
gress  the  constitution,  so  ratified,)  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  as  hereinbefore  provided.  .  .  . 


438  CRITTENDEN  COMPROMISE  [Dec:  18 

No.   93.     Crittenden  Compromise 

December  18,  1860 

OF  the  numerous  compromise  propositions  brought  forward  in  the  second 
session  of  the  thirty-sixth  Congress,  the  resolutions  submitted  Dec.  18,  1860,  by 
Senator  John  J.  Crittenden  of  Kentucky,  attracted  the  most  attention.  January 
14,  however,  a  motion  by  English  of  Indiana,  in  the  House,  to  substitute  the 
Crittenden  resolutions  for  the  report  of  the  committee  of  thirty-three,  appointed 
Dec.  6  to  consider  so  much  of  the  President's  message  as  related  to  "  the  present 
perilous  condition  of  the  country,"  was  lost.  March  2  the  Senate  rejected,  by 
a  vote  of  7  to  28,  an  amendment  offered  by  Crittenden,  to  substitute  the  amend 
ments  proposed  by  the  Peace  Congress  for  the  resolutions  originally  presented, 
and  then,  by  a  vote  of  19  to  20,  declared  against  the  resolutions  themselves. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Cong.  Globe,  36th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  114.  The 
resolutions  were  discussed  at  intervals  for  nearly  three  months :  see  especially, 
in  the  Globe,  Crittenden's  speech  introducing  the  resolutions,  and  discussions 
on  the  other  dates  mentioned  above.  See  also  Wilson's  Slave  Power,  III., 
chap.  6;  Curtis's  Buchanan,  II.,  chap.  21 ;  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln,  II., 
chaps.  26-28;  III.,  chap.  14;  Greeley's  Amer.  Conflict,  I.,  chap.  24. 

A  joint  resolution  (S.  No.  50)  proposing  certain  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Whereas  serious  and  alarming  dissensions  have  arisen  between 
the  northern  and  southern  States,  concerning  the  rights  and  secu 
rity  of  the  rights  of  the  slaveholding  States,  and  especially  their 
rights  in  the  common  territory  of  the  United  States  ;  and  whereas 
it  is  eminently  desirable  and  proper  that  these  dissensions,  which 
now  threaten  the  very  existence  of  this  Union,  should  be  perma 
nently  quieted  and  settled  by  constitutional  provisions,  which  shall 
do  equal  justice  to  all  sections,  and  thereby  restore  to  the  people 
that  peace  and  good-will  which  ought  to  prevail  between  all  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  :  Therefore, 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  (two  thirds  of  both  Houses 
concurring,)  That  the  following  articles  be,  and  are  hereby,  pro 
posed  and  submitted  as  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  which  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as 
part  of  said  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  conventions  of  three 
fourths  of  the  several  States  : 

ARTICLE  i.  In  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States  now  held, 
or  hereafter  acquired,  situate  north  of  latitude  36°  30',  slavery  or 


i860]  CRITTENDEN   COMPROMISE  439 

involuntary  servitude,  except  as  punishment  for  a  crime,  is  pro 
hibited  while  such  territory  shall  remain  under  territorial  govern 
ment.  In  all  the  territory  south  of  said  line  of  latitude,  slavery  of 
the  African  race  is  hereby  recognized  as  existing,  and  shall  not  be 
interfered  with  by  Congress,  but  shall  be  protected  as  property  by 
all  the  departments  of  the  territorial  government  during  its  con 
tinuance.  And  when  any  Territory,  north  or  south  of  said  line, 
within  such  boundaries  as  Congress  may  prescribe,  shall  contain 
the  population  requisite  for  a  member  of  Congress  according  to 
the  then  Federal  ratio  of  representation  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  it  shall,  if  its  form  of  government  be  republican,  be 
admitted  into  the  Union,  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
States,  with  or  without  slavery,  as  the  constitution  of  such  new 
State  may  provide. 

ART.  2.  Congress  shall  have  no  power  to  abolish  slavery  in 
places  under  its  exclusive  jurisdiction,  and  situate  within  the  limits 
of  States  that  permit  the  holding  of  slaves. 

ART.  3.  Congress  shall  have  no  power  to  abolish  slavery  within 
the  District  of  Columbia,  so  long  as  it  exists  in  the  adjoining  States 
of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  or  either,  nor  without  the  consent  of  the 
inhabitants,  nor  without  just  compensation  first  made  to  such  own 
ers  of  slaves  as  do  not  consent  to  such  abolishment.  Nor  shall 
Congress  at  any  time  prohibit  officers  of  the  Federal  Government, 
or  members  of  Congress,  whose  duties  require  them  to  be  in  said 
District,  from  bringing  with  them  their  slaves,  and  holding  them 
as  such  during  the  time  their  duties  may  require  them  to  remain 
there,  and  afterwards  taking  them  from  the  District. 

ART.  4.  Congress  shall  have  no  power  to  prohibit  or  hinder  the 
transportation  of  slaves  from  one  State  to  another,  or  to  a  Terri 
tory  in  which  slaves  are  by  law  permitted  to  be  held,  whether  that 
transportation  be  by  land,  navigable  rivers,  or  by  the  sea. 

ART.  5.  That  in  addition  to  the  provisions  of  the  third  para 
graph  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  Congress  shall  have  power  to  provide 
by  law,  and  it  shall  be  its  duty  so  to  provide,  that  the  United 
States  shall  pay  to  the  owner  who  shall  t  apply  for  it,  the  full  value 
of  his  fugitive  slave  in  all  cases  when  the  marshal  or  other  officer 
whose  duty  it  was  to  arrest  said  fugitive  was  prevented  from  so 
doing  by  violence  or  intimidation,  or  when,  after  arrest,  said  fugi 
tive  was  rescued  by  force,  and  the  owner  thereby  prevented  and 


440  CRITTENDEN  COMPROMISE  [Dec.  18 

obstructed  in  the  pursuit  of  his  remedy  for  the  recovery  of  his 
fugitive  slave  under  the  said  clause  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof.  And  in  all  such  cases,  when  the 
United  States  shall  pay  for  such  fugitive,  they  shall  have  the  right, 
in  their  own  name,  to  sue  the  county  in  which  said  violence,  in 
timidation,  or  rescue  was  committed,  and  to  recover  from  it,  with 
interest  and  damages,  the  amount  paid  by  them  for  said  fugitive 
slave.  And  the  said  county,  after  it  has  paid  said  amount  to  the 
United  States,  may,  for  its  indemnity,  sue  and  recover  from  the 
wrong-doers  or  rescuers  by  whom  the  owner  was  prevented  from 
the  recovery  of  his  fugitive  slave,  in  like  manner  as  the  owner 
himself  might  have  sued  and  recovered. 

ART.  6.  No  future  amendment  of  the  Constitution  shall  affect 
the  five  preceding  articles ;  nor  the  third  paragraph  of  the  second 
section  of  the  first  article  of  the  Constitution ;  nor  the  third  para 
graph  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  said  Constitu 
tion  ;  and  no  amendment  shall  be  made  to  the  Constitution  which 
shall  authorize  or  give  to  Congress  any  power  to  abolish  or  inter 
fere  with  slavery  in  any  of  the  States  by  whose  laws  it  is,  or  may 
be,  allowed  or  permitted. 

And  whereas,  also,  besides  those  causes  of  dissension  embraced 
in  the  foregoing  amendments  proposed  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  there  are  others  which  come  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  Congress,  and  may  be  remedied  by  its  legislative  power ;  and 
whereas  it  is  the  desire  of  Congress,  as  far  as  its  power  will  extend, 
to  remove  all  just  cause  for  the  popular  discontent  and  agitation 
which  now  disturb  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  threaten  the  sta 
bility  of  its  institutions  :  Therefore, 

i.  Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  laws 
now  in  force  for  the  recovery  of  fugitive  slaves  are  in  strict  pursu 
ance  of  the  plain  and  mandatory  provisions  of  the  Constitution, 
and  have  been  sanctioned  as  valid  and  constitutional  by  the  judg 
ment  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States ;  that  the  slave- 
holding  States  are  entitled  to  the  faithful  observance  and  execution 
of  those  laws,  and  that  they  ought  not  to  be  repealed,  or  so  modi 
fied  or  changed  as  to  impair  their  efficiency ;  and  that  laws  ought 
to  be  made  for  the  punishment  of  those  who  attempt  by  rescue  of 
the  slave,  or  other  illegal  means,  to  hinder  or  defeat  the  due  exe 
cution  of  said  laws. 


1860]  ORDINANCE  OF  SECESSION  441 

2.  That  all  State  laws  which  conflict  with  the  fugitive  slave  acts 
of  Congress,  or  any  other  constitutional  acts  of  Congress,  or  which, 
in  their  operation,  impede,  hinder,  or  delay  the  free  course  and  due 
execution  of  any  of  said  acts,  are  null  and  void  by  the  plain  pro 
visions  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Unitecl  States ;   yet  those  State 
laws,  void  as  they  are,  have  given  color  to  practices,  and  led  to 
consequences,  which  have  obstructed  the  due  administration  and 
execution  of  acts  of  Congress,  and  especially  the  acts  for  the 
delivery  of  fugitive  slaves,  and  have  thereby  contributed  much  to 
the  discord  and  commotion  now  prevailing.     Congress,  therefore, 
in   the    present   perilous  juncture,   does    not  deem  it  improper, 
respectfully  and  earnestly  to  recommend  the  repeal  of  those  laws 
to  the  several  States  which  have  enacted  them,  or  such  legislative 
corrections  or  explanations  of  them  as  may  prevent  their  being 
used  or  perverted  to  such  mischievous  purposes. 

3.  That  the  act  of  the    i8th  of  September,  1850,  commonly 
called  the  fugitive  slave  law,  ought  to  be  so  amended  as  to  make 
the  fee  of  the  commissioner,  mentioned  in  the  eighth  section  of 
the  act,  equal  in  amount  in  the  cases  decided  by  him,  whether  his 
decision  be  in  favor  of  or  against  the  claimant.     And  to  avoid 
misconstruction,  the  last  clause  of  the  fifth  section  of  said  act, 
which  authorizes  the  person  holding  a  warrant  for  the  arrest  or 
detention  of  a  fugitive  slave,  to  summon  to  his  aid  \he  posse  comi- 
tatus,  and  which  declares  it  to  be  the  duty  of  all  good  citizens  to 
assist  him  in  its  execution,  ought  to  be  so  amended  as  to  expressly 
limit  the  authority  and  duty  to  cases  in  which  there  shall  be  resist 
ance  or  danger  of  resistance  or  rescue. 

4.  That  the  laws  for  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave  trade, 
and  especially  those  prohibiting  the  importation  of  slaves  in  the 
United   States,   ought   to   be    made   effectual,  and    ought  to  be 
thoroughly  executed ;   and   all    further  enactments  necessary  to 
those  ends  ought  to  be  promptly  made. 


No.   94.     South  Carolina  Ordinance  of 
Secession 

December  20,  1860 

IT  was  clear  that  the  success  of  the  Republicans  in  the  election  of  1860 
would  mean  the  exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  Territories.     The  legislature  of 


442  ORDINANCE  OF  SECESSION  [Dec.  20 

South  Carolina  met  Nov.  4  to  choose  presidential  electors,  and  remained  in 
session  until  it  was  known  that  Lincoln  had  been  elected.  On  the  yth  an  act 
was  passed  calling  a  State  convention,  to  meet  at  Columbia  Dec.  17,  to  con 
sider  the  question  of  withdrawing  from  the  Union.  The  convention  met  at 
the  time  and  place  appointed,  but  adjourned  to  Charleston  because  of  an  epi 
demic  of  small-pox  in  Columbia.  On  the  2Oth  an  ordinance  of  secession  was 
unanimously  adopted  by  the  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  delegates  present, 
and  the  president  of  the  convention  proclaimed  South  Carolina  to  be  "  an 
independent  Commonwealth."  On  the  2ist  the  Representatives  of  the  State 
in  Congress  announced  their  withdrawal  from  the  House.  A  "  Declaration 
of  the  immediate  causes  which  induce  and  justify  the  secession  of  South 
Carolina  from  the  Federal  Union"  was  adopted  on  the  24th. 

REFERENCES.  —  Text  in  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Official  Records,  Series  I., 
vol.  I.,  p.  no.  For  the  proceedings  of  the  convention,  see  Amer.  Annual 
Cyclopedia,  1861,  pp.  646-657;  Moore's  Rebellion  Record,  I.,  Doc.  2.  The 
declaration  of  causes,  and  ordinances  of  secession  passed  by  the  other  Southern 
States,  are  collected  in  Amer.  Hist.  Leaflets,  No.  12.  On  the  general  progress 
of  events,  see  especially  Von  Hoist's  United  States,  VII.,  chap.  1 1 ;  Rhodes's 
United  States,  III.,  chaps.  13,  14.  On  the  steps  preliminary  to  secession,  see 
Pike's  First  Blows  of  the  Civil  War.  Buchanan  defended  his  official  conduct 
during  1860-61  in  The  Administration  on  the  Eve  of  the  Rebellion  (London, 
1865);  a  later  defence  is  in  Curtis's  Buchanan,  II.,  chap.  15.  See  also 
Davis's  Confederate  Government,  I.,  part  III;  Wilson's  Slave  Power,  III., 
chaps.  10,  II;  Greeley's  Amer.  Conflict,  I.,  chap.  22;  Nicolay  and  Hay's 
Lincoln,  III.,  chap,  i;  Pierce's  Sumner,  III.,  chap.  40;  IV.,  chap.  44. 

AN  ORDINANCE  to  dissolve  the  union  between  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
and  the  other  States  united  with  her  under  the  compact  entitled  "The  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  of  America  "  : 

We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  in  convention 
assembled,  do  declare  and  ordain,  and  it  is  hereby  declared  and 
ordained,  that  the  ordinance  adopted  by  us  in  convention  on  the 
twenty-third  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  eighty-eight,  whereby  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  of  America  was  ratified,  and  also  all  acts  and  parts 
of  acts  of  the  general  assembly  of  this  State  ratifying  amend 
ments  of  the  said  Constitution,  are  hereby  repealed  ;  and  that  the 
union  now  subsisting  between  South  Carolina  and  other  States, 
under  the  name  of  the  "  United  States  of  America,"  is  hereby 
dissolved. 


1860]  PEACE  CONGRESS  443 

No.   95.     Peace   Congress:     Proposed   Constitu 
tional   Amendment 

February  27,   1861 

IN  response  to  a  resolution  of  the  Virginia  legislature  a  peace  congress  met 
at  Washington  Feb.  4,  1861,  remaining  in  session  until  Feb.  27.  Twenty-one 
States  were  represented  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  commissioners.  The 
delegates  were  variously  instructed,  but  a  majority  were  opposed  to  the  adop 
tion  of  a  modified  form  of  the  Crittenden  compromise,  as  favored  by  Virginia. 
The  convention  adopted  a  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  which 
was  transmitted  to  Congress  Feb.  27  by  John  Tyler  of  Virginia,  president  of 
the  convention,  with  a  request  that  it  be  submitted  to  the  States  for  approval. 
The  amendment  was  discussed  at  intervals  until  the  end  of  the  session,  but  no 
favorable  action  was  taken. 

REFERENCES.  —  l^ext  in  Seriate  Misc.  Doc.  20,  36th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.  The 
work  of  the  congress  is  set  forth  at  length  in  Chittenden's  Report  of  the  De 
bates  and  Proceedings,  etc.  (1864);  for  the  discussions  in  Congress,  see  the 
Cong.  Globe.  See  also  Wilson's  Slave  Power,  III.,  chap.  7;  Greeley's  Amer. 
Conflict,  I.,  chap.  25;  Curtis's  Buchanan,  II.,  439-444;  Johnston,  in  Lalors 
Cyclopedia,  I.,  57.8-580;  Davis's  Confederate  Government,  I.,  part  III.,  chap.  8. 

ARTICLE  13. 

SECTION  i.  In  all  the  present  territory  of  the  United  States, 
north  of  the  parallel  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  of 
north  latitude,  involuntary  servitude,  except  in  punishment  of 
crime,  is  prohibited.  In  all  the  present  territory  south  of  that 
line,  the  status  of  persons  held  to  involuntary  service  or  labor,  as 
it  now  exists,  shall  not  be  changed  ;  nor  shall  any  law  be  passed 
by  Congress  or  the  territorial  legislature  to  hinder  or  prevent  the 
taking  of  such  persons  from  any  of  the  States  of  this  Union  to 
said  territory,  nor  to  impair  the  rights  arising  from  said  relation ; 
but  the  same  shall  be  subject  to  judicial  cognizance  in  the  federal 
courts,  according  to  the  course  of  the  common  law.  When  any 
Territory  north  or  south  of  said  line,  within  such  boundary  as 
Congress  may  prescribe,  shall  contain  a  population  equal  to  that 
required  for  a  member  of  Congress,  it  shall,  if  its  form  of  govern 
ment  be  republican,  be  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  foot 
ing  with  the  original  States,  with  or  without  involuntary  servitude, 
as  the  Constitution  of  such  State  may  provide. 

SECTION  2.  No  territory  shall  be  acquired  by  the  United  States, 
except  by  discovery  and  for  naval  and  commercial  stations,  depots, 


444  PEACE  CONGRESS  [Feb.  27 

and  transit  routes,  without  the  concurrence  of  a  majority  of  all 
the  Senators  from  States  which  allow  involuntary  servitude,  and  a 
majority  of  all  the  Senators  from  States  which  prohibit  that  rela 
tion  ;  nor  shall  territory  be  acquired  by  treaty,  unless  the  votes 
of  a  majority  of  the  Senators  from  each  class  of  States  herein 
before  mentioned  be  cast  as  a  part  of  the  'two-thirds  majority 
necessary  to  the  ratification  of  such  treaty. 

SECTION  3.  Neither  the  Constitution,  nor  any  amendment 
thereof,  shall  be  construed  to  give  Congress  power  to  regulate, 
abolish,  or  control  within  any  State  the  relation  established  or 
recognized  by  the  laws  thereof  touching  persons  held  to  labor  or 
involuntary  service  therein,  nor  to  interfere  with  or  abolish  invol 
untary  service  in  the  District  of  Columbia  without  the  consent  of 
Maryland  and  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  or  making  the 
owners  who  do  not  consent  just  compensation  ;  nor  the  power  to 
interfere  with  or  prohibit  representatives  and  others  from  bringing 
with  them  to  the  District  of  Columbia,  retaining  and  taking  away, 
persons  so  held  to  labor  or  service  ;  nor  the  power  to  interfere 
with  or  abolish  involuntary  service  in  places  under  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  within  those  States  and  Territo 
ries  where  the  same  is  established  or  recognized ;  nor  the  power 
to  prohibit  the  removal  or  transportation  of  persons  held  to  labor 
or  involuntary  service  in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  United 
States  to  any  other  State  or  Territory  thereof  where  it  is  estab 
lished  or  recognized  by  law  or  usage;  and  the  right  during  trans 
portation,  by  sea  or  river,  of  touching  at  ports,  shores,  and  landings, 
and  of  landing  in  case  of  distress,  shall  exist ;  but  not  the  right 
of  transit  in  or  through  any  State  or  Territory,  or  of  sale  or  traffic, 
against  the  laws  thereof.  Nor  shall  Congress  have  power  to 
authorize  any  higher  rate  of  taxation  on  persons  held  to  labor 
or  service  than  on  land. 

The  bringing  into  the  District  of  Columbia  of  persons  held  to  labor 
or  service,  for  sale,  or  placing  them  in  depots  to  be  afterwards  trans 
ferred  to  other  places  for  sale  as  merchandise,  is  prohibited. 

SECTION  4.  The  third  paragraph  of  the  second  section  of  the 
fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  shall  not  be  construed  to  prevent 
any  of  the  States,  by  appropriate  legislation,  and  through  the  action 
of  their  judicial  and  ministerial  officers,  from  enforcing  the  deliv 
ery  of  fugitives  from  labor  to  the  person  to  whom  such  service  or 
labor  is  due. 


i86i]  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  445 

SECTION  5.  The  foreign  slave  trade  is  hereby  forever  prohibited  ; 
and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  Congress  to  pass  laws  to  prevent  the 
importation  of  slaves,  coolies,  or  persons  held  to  service  or  labor, 
into  the  United  States  and  the  Territories  from  places  beyond  the 
limits  thereof. 

SECTION  6.  The  first,  third,  and  fifth  sections,  together  with 
this  section  of  these  amendments,  and  the  third  paragraph  of  the 
second  section  of  the  first  article  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  third 
paragraph  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article  thereof,  shall 
not-  be  amended  or  abolished  without  the  consent  of  all  the  States. 

SECTION  7.  Congress  shall  provide  by  law  that  the  United 
States  shall  pay  to  the  owner  the  full  value  of  his  fugitive  from 
labor,  in  all  cases  where  the  marshal,  or  other  officer,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  arrest  such  fugitive,  was  prevented  from  so  doing  by 
violence  or  intimidation  from  mobs  or  riotous  assemblages,  or 
when,  after  arrest,  such  fugitive  was  rescued  by  like  violence  or 
intimidation,  and  the  owner  thereby  deprived  of  the  same  ;  and 
the  acceptance  of  such  payment  shall  preclude  the  owner  from 
further  claim  to  such  fugitive.  Congress  shall  provide  by  law  for 
securing  to  the  citizens  of  each  State  the  privileges  and  immunities 
of  citizens  in  the  several  States. 


No.   96.     Proposed    Constitutional   Amendment 

March  2,   1861 

THE  House  committee  of  thirty-three  (see  note  to  No.  93)  reported  Jan.  14, 
1861.  February  27  Corwin  of  Ohio,  chairman  of  the  committee,  offered,  as  an 
amendment  to  the  second  proposition  reported  by  the  committee,  the  proposed 
constitutional  amendment,  the  text  of  which  follows.  The  resolution  passed 
the  House  the  next  day,  by  a  vote  of  133  to  65,  and  the  Senate  March  4  (ses 
sion  of  March  2),  by  a  vote  of  24  to  12.  The  amendment  was  spoken  of  with 
approval  by  Lincoln  in  his  inaugural  address,  and  was  agreed  to  by  Ohio 
and  Maryland,  but  failed  to  be  ratified  by  the  required  number  of  States. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  U.  S.  Stat.  at  Large,  XII.,  251.  For  the  pro 
ceedings  and  discussions  in  Congress,  see  the  House  and  Senate  Journals,  36th 
Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  and  Cong.  Globe.  See  also  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln,  III., 
chap.  15;  Wilson's  Slave  Power,  III.,  chap.  8;  and  references  under  Nos.  86 
and  88. 


446  CONSTITUTION  OF  CONFEDERATE   STATES     [March  n 

Joint  Resolution  to  amend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  follow 
ing  article  be  proposed  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States  as 
an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which, 
when  ratified  by  three  fourths  of  said  Legislatures,  shall  be  valid, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part  of  the  said  Constitution,  viz  : 


ARTICLE  THIRTEEN. 

"  No  amendment  shall  be  made  to  the  Constitution  which  will 
authorize  or  give  to  Congress  the  power  to  abolish  or  interfere, 
within  any  State,  with  the  domestic  institutions  thereof,  including 
that  of  persons  held  to  labor  or  service  by  the  laws  of  said  State." 


No.  97.      Constitution  of  the  Confederate  States 
of  America 

March  n,   1861 

THE  secession  of  South  Carolina  was  followed,  Jan.  9,  1861,  by  similar 
action  in  Mississippi.  Ordinances  of  secession  were  adopted  by  Florida 
Jan.  10,  Alabama  Jan.  n,  Georgia  Jan.  19,  and  Louisiana  Jan.  26.  A  reso 
lution  of  the  legislature  of  Mississippi,  Jan.  19,  in  favor  of  a  congress  of  rep 
resentatives  from  the  seceded  States,  to  form  a  provisional  government,  was 
endorsed  by  the  other  States,  and  Feb.  8  a  congress  at  Montgomery,  Ala., 
adopted  a  provisional  constitution.  A  permanent  constitution  was  adopted 
March  11,  and  signed  by  delegates  from  each  of  the  States  above  named,  and 
by  those  of  Texas,  which  had  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession  Feb.  i.  The 
constitution  was  ratified  by  conventions  in  the  several  States.  The  first  elec 
tion  under  the  permanent  constitution  was  held  Nov.  6,  1861.  The  congress 
under  the  permanent  constitution  met  Feb.  18,  1862,  superseding  the  provi 
sional  congress.  The  Confederate  States  of  America  were  accorded  bellig 
erent  rights  by  England  and  France,  through  proclamations  of  neutrality,  but 
were  never  formally  recognized  as  a  government,  either  by  the  United  States 
or  by  any  foreign  power. 

The  permanent  constitution  was  modelled  after  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  is  in  the  main  a  reproduction  of  that  instrument,  with 
verbal  or  minor  changes  necessary  to  adapt  it  to  the  style  of  the  new  confed 
eracy.  All  the  sections  embodying  other  than  formal  changes  are  given  in 


1861]  CONSTITUTION   OF  CONFEDERATE   STATES  447 

the  extracts  following,  with  references  to  facilitate  comparison  between  the 
two  documents. 

REFERENCES. —  Text  in  Conf.  Stat.  at  Large  (Richmond,  1864,  ed.  Mat 
thews),  11-22,  where  is  also  the  provisional  constitution.  A  convenient 
reprint,  with  the  texts  of  the  Confederate  constitution  and  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  in  parallel  columns,  is  in  Davis's  Confederate  Government, 
I.,  648-673.  The  archives  of  the  Confederate  government  are  (1897)  in  the 
possession  of  the  War  Department;  printed  documentary  material  is  scanty 
and  rare.  The  official  acts  of  the  Confederacy  are  best  followed  in  Moore's 
Rebellion  Record,  and  Amer.  Annual  Cyclopcedia,  1861-65;  a  f£w  documents 
are  also  given  in  McPherson's  Hist,  of  the  Rebellion.  For  general  accounts, 
see  Rhodes's  United  States,  III.,  chap.  14;  Von  Hoist's  United  States,  VII., 
chap.  II;  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln,  III.,  chap.  13;  Johnston,  in  Lalor's 
Cyclopcedia,  I.,  566-571;  Wilson's  Slave  Power,  III.,  chap.  9;  Greeley's 
Amer.  Conflict,  I.,  chap.  26;  Davis's  Confederate  Government,  I.,  part  III., 
chaps.  5-7;  Stephens's  War  between  the  States,  II.,  312-345;  Pollard's  Lost 
Cause,  chap.  5. 

WE,  the  people  of  the  Confederate  States,  each  State  acting  in 
its  sovereign  and  independent  character,  in  order  to  form  a  per 
manent  federal  government,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tran 
quillity,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity  —  invoking  the  favor  and  guidance  of  Almighty  God  — 
do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  Confederate  States 
of  America.* 

ARTICLE  I. 

SECTION    I. 

All  legislative  powers  herein  delegated  shall  be  vested  in  a  Con 
gress  of  the  Confederate  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives.! 

SECTION  2. 

i.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of  mem 
bers  chosen  every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  several  States  ; 
and  the  electors  in  each  State  shall  be  citizens  of  the  Confederate 
States,  and  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the 
most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  Legislature  ;  but  no  person  of 
foreign  birth,  not  a  citizen  of  the  Confederate  States,  shall  be 
allowed  to  vote  for  any  officer,  civil  or  political,  State  or  Federal. \ 


*  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Preamble.]  f  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  i.] 

+  [  Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  2.] 


448  CONSTITUTION  OF   CONFEDERATE   STATES       [March  11 

3.  Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among 
the  several  States,  which  may  be  included  within  this  Confederacy, 
according  to  their  respective  numbers,  which  shall  be  determined, 
by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  including  those 
bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  slaves.  The  actual  enumeration  shall  be 
made  within  three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  Congress 
of  the  Confederate  States,  and  within  every  subsequent  term  of 
ten  years,  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct.  The  num 
ber  of  Representatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  fifty  thou 
sand,  but  each  State  shall  have  at  least  one  Representative ;  and 
until  such  enumeration  shall  be  made,  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
shall  be  entitled  to  choose  six ;  the  State  of  Georgia  ten ;  the 
State  of  Alabama  nine ;  the  State  of  Florida  two ;  the  State  of 
Mississippi  seven;  the  State  of  Louisiana  six;  and  the  State  of 
Texas  six.* 

*********** 

5.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  their  Speaker 
and  other  officers  ;  and  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeachment ; 
except  that  any  judicial  or  other  Federal  officer,  resident  and  act 
ing  solely  within  the  limits  of  any  State,  may  be  impeached  by  a 
vote  of  two-thirds  of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  thereof.! 

SECTION    3. 

i.  The  Senate  of  the  Confederate  States  shall  be  composed  of 
two  Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  for  six  years  by  the  Legislat 
ure  thereof,  at  the  regular  session  next  immediately  preceding  the 
commencement  of  the  term  of  service ;  and  each  Senator  shall 
have  one  vote.J 

*********** 

SECTION    6. 

...  No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  time  for 
which  he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  office  under  the 
authority  of  the  Confederate  States,  which  shall  have  been  created, 
or  the  emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been  increased  during  such 
time  ;  and  no  person  holding  any  office  under  the  Confederate 
States  shall  be  a  member  of  either  House  during  his  continuance 

*  \Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  2,  Par.  3.] 
t  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  2,  Par.  5.] 
J  \Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  3,  Par.  i.J 


1861]        CONSTITUTION  OF  CONFEDERATE  STATES  449 

in  office.  But  Congress  may,  by  law,  grant  to  the  principal  officer 
in  each  of  the  Executive  Departments  a  seat  upon  the  floor  of 
either  House,  with  the  privilege  of  discussing  any  measures  apper 
taining  to  his  department.* 

SECTION  7. 

2.  ...     The  President  may  approve  any  appropriation  and 
disapprove  any  other  appropriation  in  the  same  bill.    In  such  case 
he  shall,  in  signing  the  bill,  designate  the  appropriations  disap 
proved  ;  and  shall  return  a  copy  of  such  appropriations,  with  his 
objections,  to  the  House  in  which  the  bill  shall  have  originated; 
and  the  same  proceedings  shall  then  be  had  as  in  case  of  other 
bills  disapproved  by  the  President! 

*********** 

SECTION    8. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  — 

i.  To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises,  for 
revenue  necessary  to  pay  the  debts,  provide  for  the  common  de 
fence,  and  carry  on  the  government  of  the  Confederate  States ; 
but  no  bounties  shall  be  granted  from  the  treasury ;  nor  shall  any 
duties  or  taxes  on  importations  from  foreign  nations  be  laid  to  pro 
mote  or  foster  any  branch  of  industry ;  jand  all  duties,  imposts, 
and  excises  shall  be  uniform  throughout  the  Confederate  States  :  j 

*********** 

3.  To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the 
several  States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes  ;  but  neither  this,  nor 
any  other  clause  contained  in  the  constitution,  shall  ever  be  con 
strued  to  delegate  the  power  to  Congress  to  appropriate  money 
for  any  internal  improvement  intended  to  facilitate  commerce ; 
except  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  lights,  beacons,  and  buoys, 
and  other  aids  to  navigation  upon  the  coasts,  and  the  improve 
ment  of  harbors  and  the  removing  of  obstructions  in  river  naviga 
tion,  in  all  which  cases,  such  duties  shall  be  laid  on  the  navigation 
facilitated  thereby,  as  may  be  necessary  to  pay  the  costs  and  ex 
penses  thereof: § 

*  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  6,  Par.  2.] 
t  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  7,  Par.  2.] 
t  [£/.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  8,  Par.  i.] 
$  \Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  8,  Par.  3.] 
2G 


450          CONSTITUTION    OF   CONFEDERATE   STATES       [March  11 

4.  To  establish  uniform  laws  of  naturalization,  and  uniform  laws 
on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies,  throughout  the  Confederate  States ; 
but  no  law  of  Congress  shall  discharge  any  debt  contracted  before 
the  passage  of  the  same  :  * 

*********** 

7.  To  establish  post-offices  and  post-routes ;  but  the  expenses 
of  the  Post-Office  Department,  after  the  first  day  of  March  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-three,  shall  be  paid 
out  of  its  own  revenue  :  f 


SECTION  9. 

1.  The  importation  of  negroes  of  the  African  race,  from  any 
foreign  country  other  than  the  slaveholding  States  or  Territories 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  is  hereby  forbidden ;   and  Con 
gress  is  required  to  pass  such  laws  as  shall  effectually  prevent  the 
same. 

2.  Congress  shall  also  have  power  to  prohibit  the  introduction 
of  slaves  from  any  State  not  a  member  of,  or  Territory  not  belong 
ing  to,  this  Confederacy.! 

*********** 

4.  No  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post  facto  law,  or  law  denying  or  im- 
pa[i]ring  the  right  of  property  in  negro  slaves  shall  be  passed.§ 

*********** 

6.  No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any 
State,  except  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  both  Houses.  || 

*********** 

9.  Congress  shall  appropriate  no  money  from  the  treasury  ex 
cept  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  both  Houses,  taken  by  yeas  and 
nays,  unless  it  be  asked  and  estimated  for  by  some  one  of  the 
heads  of  departments,  and  submitted  to  Congress  by  the  Presi 
dent  ;  or  for  the  purpose  of  paying  its  own  expenses  and  contin 
gencies  ;  or  for  the  payment  of  claims  against  the  Confederate 
States,  the  justice  of  which  shall  have  been  judicially  declared  by 

*  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  8,  Par.  4.] 
t  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  8,  Par.  7.] 
I  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  9,  Par.  i.] 
§  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  9,  Par.  3.] 
||  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  9,  Par.  5.] 


i86i]         CONSTITUTION  OF   CONFEDERATE   STATES  451 

a  tribunal  for  the  investigation  of  claims  against  the  government, 
which  it  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  Congress  to  establish. 

10.    All  bills  appropriating  money  shall  specify  in  federal  cur 
rency  the  exact  amount  of  each  appropriation  and  the  purposes 
for  which  it  is  made ;  and  Congress  shall  grant  no  extra  compen 
sation  to  any  public  contractor,  officer,  agent  or  servant,  after  such 
contract  shall  have  been  made  or  such  service  rendered.* 
*********** 
20.    Every  law,  or  resolution  having  the  force  of  law,  shall  relate 
to  but  one  subject,  and  that  shall  be  expressed  in  the  title. 

SECTION  10. 

3.  No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  duty 
on  tonnage,  except  on  sea-going  vessels,  for  the  improvement  of 
its  rivers  and  harbors  navigated  by  the  said  vessels ;  but  such 
duties  shall  not  conflict  with  any  treaties  of  the  Confederate 
States  with  foreign  nations  ;  and  any  surplus  revenue,  thus  de 
rived,  shall,  after  making  such  improvement,  be  paid  into  the 
common  treasury.  Nor  shall  any  State  keep  troops  or  ships-of- 
war  in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any  agreement  or  compact  with 
another  State,  or  with  a  foreign  power,  or  engage  in  war,  unless 
actually  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent  danger  as  will  not  admit  of 
delay.  But  when  any  river  divides  or  flows  through  two  or  more 
States,  they  may  enter  into  compacts  with  each  other  to  improve 
the  navigation  thereof.f 

ARTICLE   II. 

SECTION    I. 

T.  The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of  the 
Confederate  States  of  America.  He  and  the  Vice  President  shall 
hold  their  offices  for  the  term  of  six  years  ;  but  the  President  shall 
not  be  re-eligible.  .  .  .  J 

*********** 
7.    No  person  except  a  natural  born  citizen  of  the  Confederate 
States,  or  a  citizen  thereof  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  this 
Constitution,  or  a  citizen  thereof  born  in  the  United  States  prior 

*  [This  and  the  preceding  paragraphs  are  in  addition  to  a  provision  identical 
with  Const.  U.  S.t  Art.  I.,  Sec.  9,  Par.  7.] 

f  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  I.,  Sec.  10,  Par.  3.] 
+  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  II.,  Sec.  i,  Par.  i.] 


452  CONSTITUTION   OF  CONFEDERATE   STATES       [March  11 

to  the  20th  of  December,  1860,  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of 
President ;  neither  shall  any  person  be  eligible  to  that  office  who 
shall  not  have  attained  the  age  of  thirty- five  years,  and  been  four 
teen  years  a  resident  within  the  limits  of  the  Confederate  States, 
as  they  may  exist  at  the  time  of  his  election.* 


SECTION  2. 

3.  The  principal  officer  in  each  of  the  executive  departments, 
and  all  persons  connected  with  the  diplomatic  service,  may  be 
removed  from  office  at  the  pleasure  of  the  President.     All  other 
civil  officers  of  the  executive  departments  may  be  removed  at  any 
time  by  the  President,  or  other  appointing  power,  when  their  ser 
vices  are  unnecessary,  or  for  dishonesty,  incapacity,  inefficiency, 
misconduct,  or  neglect  of  duty ;  and  when  so  removed,  the  removal 
shall  be  reported  to  the  Senate,  together  with  the  reasons  therefor. 

4.  The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies  that 
may  happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  commis 
sions  which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  their  next  session ;  but  no 
person  rejected  by  the  Senate  shall  be  re-appointed  to  the  same 
office  during  their  ensuing  recess.f 


ARTICLE  IV. 

SECTION    2. 

1.  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privi 
leges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States  ;  and  shall 
have  the  right  of  transit  and  sojourn  in  any  State  of  this  Con 
federacy,  with  their  slaves  and  other  property  ;  and  the  right  of 
property  in  said  slaves  shall  not  be  thereby  impaired.]: 

2.  A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  treason,  felony,  or  other 
crime  against  the  laws  of  such  State,  who  shall  flee  from  justice, 
and  be  found  in  another  State,  shall,  on  demand  of  the  executive 
authority  of  the  State  from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up,  to  be 
removed  to  the  State  having  jurisdiction  of  the  crime. § 

*  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  II.,  Sec.  i,  Par.  5.] 
t  [Cf,  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  II.,  Sec.  2,  Par.  3.] 
t  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  IV.,  Sec.  2,  Par.  i.] 
$  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  IV.,  Sec.  2,  Par.  a.] 


1861]         CONSTITUTION   OF  CONFEDERATE   STATES  453 

3.  No  slave  or  other  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  any 
State  or  Territory  of  the  Confederate  States,  under  the  laws 
thereof,  escaping  or  lawfully  carried  into  another,  shall,  in  con 
sequence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from 
such  service  or  labor ;  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the 
party  to  whom  such  slave  belongs,  or  to  whom  such  service  or 
labor  may  be  due.* 

SECTION  3. 

1.  Other  States  may  be  admitted  into  this  Confederacy  by  a 
vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  House  of  Representatives  and 
two-thirds  of  the  Senate,  the  Senate  voting   by  States ;    but  no 
new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
any  other  State  ;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two 
or  more  States,  or  parts  of  States,  without  the  consent  of  the  leg 
islatures  of  the  States  concerned,  as  well  as  of  the  Congress.f 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations  concerning  the  property  of  the  Con 
federate  States,  including  the  lands  thereof. J 

3.  The  Confederate  States  may  acquire  new  territory;  and  Con 
gress  shall  have  power  to  legislate  and  provide  governments  for 
the  inhabitants  of  all  territory  belonging  to  the  Confederate  States, 
lying  without  the  limits  of  the  several  States  ;  and  may  permit  them, 
at  such  times,  and  in  such  manner  as  it  may  by  law  provide,  to 
form  States  to  be  admitted  into  the  Confederacy.     In  all   such 
territory,  the  institution  of  negro  slavery,  as  it  now  exists  in  the 
Confederate  States,  shall  be  recognized  and  protected  by  Con 
gress  and  by  the  territorial  government :  and  the  inhabitants  of 
the  several  Confederate  States  and  Territories  shall  have  the  right 
to  take  to  such  territory  any  slaves  lawfully  held  by  them  in  any 
of  the  States  or  Territories  of  the  Confederate  States. 

4.  The  Confederate  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  that 
now  is,  or  hereafter  may  become,  a  member  of  this  Confederacy, 
a  republican  form  of  government ;  and  shall  protect  each  of  them 
against  invasion ;  and  on  application  of  the  Legislature,  (or  of  the 
executive,  when  the  legislature  is  not  in  session,)  against  domestic 
violence. § 

*  \Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  IV.,  Sec.  2,  Par.  3.] 
t  [C/.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  IV.,  Sec.  3,  Par.  i.] 
I  [C/.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  IV.,  Sec.  3,  Par.  2.] 
§  [C/.  Const,  U.  S.,  Art.  IV.,  Sec.  4.] 


454          CONSTITUTION   OF  CONFEDERATE   STATES       [March  11 

ARTICLE  V. 

SECTION    I. 

i.  Upon  the  demand  of  any  three  States,  legally  assembled  in 
their  several  conventions,  the  Congress  shall  summon  a  convention 
of  all  the  States,  to  take  into  consideration  such  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  as  the  said  States  shall  concur  in  suggesting  at 
the  time  when  the  said  demand  is  made ;  and  should  any  of  the 
proposed  amendments  to  the  Constitution  be  agreed  on  by  the 
said  convention  —  voting  by  States  —  and  the  same  be  ratified  by 
the  legislatures  of  two-thirds  of  the  several  States,  or  by  conven 
tions  in  two-thirds  thereof — as  the  one  or  the  other  mode  of 
ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the  general  convention  —  they 
shall  thenceforward  form  a  part  of  this  Constitution.  But  no  State 
shall,  without  its  consent,  be  deprived  of  its  equal  representation 
in  the  Senate.* 

ARTICLE  VI. 

i.  The  Government  established  by  this  Constitution  is  the 
successor  of  the  Provisional  Government  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America,  and  all  the  laws  passed  by  the  latter  shall  con 
tinue  in  force  until  the  same  shall  be  repealed  or  modified  :  and 
all  the  officers  appointed  by  the  same  shall  remain  in  office  until 
their  successors  are  appointed  and  qualified,  or  the  offices  abol 
ished. 

##*######## 

5.  The  enumeration,  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall 
not  be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the 
people  of  the  Several  States,  t 

6.  The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  Confederate  States  by  the 
Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to 
the  States,  respectively,  or  to  the  people  thereof.]: 

ARTICLE  VII. 

i.  The  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  five  States  shall  be 
sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the 
States  so  ratifying  the  same.§ 

*  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  V.]  J  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Amend.,  Art.  X.] 

t  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Amend.,  Art.  IX.]       §  [Cf.  Const.  U.  S.,  Art.  VII.] 


1861]  CONSTITUTION   OF  CONFEDERATE   STATES  455 

2.  When  five  States  shall  have  ratified  this  Constitution,  in  the 
manner  before  specified,  the  Congress  under  the  Provisional  Con 
stitution  shall  prescribe  the  time  for  holding  the  election  of  Presi 
dent  and  Vice  President ;  and  for  the  meeting  of  the  Electoral 
College ;  and  for  counting  the  votes,  and  inaugurating  the  Presi 
dent.  They  shall,  also,  prescribe  the  time  for  holding  the  first 
election  of  members  of  Congress  under  this  Constitution,  and 
the  time  for  assembling  the  same.  Until  the  assembling  of  such 
Congress,  the  Congress  under  the  Provisional  Constitution  shall 
continue  to  exercise  the  legislative  powers  granted  them ;  not 
extending  beyond  the  time  limited  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
Provisional  Government. 


Index 


[TITLES  IN  ITALICS  INDICATE  A  TEXT  WITH  ACCOMPANYING  NOTES 
AND  REFERENCES.] 


Abolition  of  slave  trade  in    District  of  Anti-Slavery  Society,  American,  Constitu,' 


Columbia,  act  for,  389,  390. 

Abolition  societies,  Georgia  protest,  237. 

Act  for  enforcing  the  tariff,  284-289 ; 
nullified  by  South  Carolina,  284. 

Act  to  organize  the  territories  of  Nebraska 
and  Kansas,  403-405. 

Act  for  the  prosecution  of  the  Mexican 
™<*r,  354,  355- 

Act  to  regulate  the  deposits,  323-327. 

Adams,  John,  and  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  i ;  message  o?t  negotiations 
with  France,  135-137. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  on  embargo  act, 
178 ;  on  tenure  of  office  act,  227 ;  de 
fence  of  bank,  261. 

African  squadron,  341,  342. 

Alabama,  secedes,  446. 

Alien  act,  141-143. 

Alien  enemies  act,  144-146 ;  House  bill, 
144. 

Alien  and  Sedition  acts,  history,  137, 
138  ;  Kentucky  resolutions  on,  151, 
152,  158,  159  ;  Virginia  resolutions  on, 
156,  157- 

Aliens,  House  resolution,  138;  registry, 
139-141;  Hillhouse's  resolution,  141; 
licenses,  142  ;  Kentucky  resolutions  on, 
151,  152,  158,  159. 

Amendments  to  Constitution,  proposed, 
Hartford  convention,  200-207 ;  Crit- 
tenden  compromise,  438-440  ;  peace 
congress,  443-445- 

American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  Constitu 
tion  of,  304,  305 ;  declaration  of  senti 
ments,  304. 

Annexation  of  Cuba,  Ostend  manifesto, 
405-412;  of  Texas,  joint  resolution  for, 
343-346 ;  protest  of  Mexico,  346. 


tion  of,  304,  305 ;  New  York  City,  304. 
Arbitration,  372,  393,  394. 
Archer,   report    against    annexation    of 

Texas,  343. 
Aroostook  war,  335. 
Articles  of  Confederation,  6-15 ;    signed 

by  States,  6. 

Ashburton  treaty,  335-343. 
Austin,  convention,  344. 

Bank,  Hamilton  s  report  on  a  national, 
67-76;  plan,  7 1-76;  Jefferson's  opinion 
on  constitutionality,  76-81 ;  Hamilton's 
opinion  on  constitutionality,  81-98. 

Bank  bills,  Tyler's  vetoes,  358,  359. 

Bank  of  the  United  States  (first)  incor 
porated,  67 ;  expiration,  207. 

Bank  of  the  United  States  (second),  act 
to  incorporate  subscribers  to  207-212 ; 
Jackson  s  first  message,  238,  239 ;  Ports 
mouth  branch,  238,  262;  McDuffie's 
report,  238;  Wayne's  resolutions,  238; 
Smith's  report,  238 ;  Potter's  resolu 
tions,  238 ;  Ingham's  "  Address,"  238  ; 
Jackson's  second  message,  259,  260; 
Benton's  motion,  259;  Jackson's  third 
message,  260,  261 ;  petition  for  re- 
charter,  261 ;  Dallas's  bill,  261 ;  Clay 
ton's  report,  261 ;  Adams's  amend 
ment,  261;  McDuffie's  report,  261; 
Jackson's  veto  message,  261-268  ; 
Jackson's  fourth  message,  271-273; 
three  per  cent,  loan,  271,  272 ;  Folk's 
report  on  sale  of  stock,  272;  Ver- 
planck's  report  on  deposits,  272  ; 
Polk's  minority  report,  272 ;  Toland's 
report,  272;  corrupt  practices,  292; 
Jackson's  fifth  message,  300-303  ; 


457 


458 


INDEX 


Thomas's  report,  300;  Folk's  report 
on  deposits,  300;  use  of  money  in 
elections,  301 ;  nominations  of  direc 
tors  rejected,  306,  307 ;  Benton's  mo 
tion  to  summon  Biddle,  306;  Web 
ster's  bill  to  recharter,  306 ;  Tyler's 
report  on  directors,  307;  Jackson  s 
sixth  message,  317-323  ;  Tyler's  re 
port,  317;  Benton's  motion  to  recom 
mit,  317;  bill  for  sale  of  stock,  317; 
French  bill,  319. 

Bastrop,  Baron,  168. 

Bayard,,  on  non-intercourse,  178;  on  ex 
punging  resolutions,  329. 

Belligerent  rights,  accorded  to  Confed 
erate  States,  446. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  report  on  executive 
patronage,  227  ;  speech  on  Foot's 
resolution,  239 ;  motion  against  re- 
charter  of  bank,  259 ;  motion  to  sum 
mon  Biddle,  306 ;  motion  to  recommit 
Tyler's  report,  317 ;  motion  for  specie 
payments  for  lands,  327 ;  inquiry  into 
effect  of  specie  circular,  327 ;  expung 
ing  resolutions ',  329-333. 

Biddle,  Benton's  motion  to  summon,  306. 

Boston,  place  of  deposit,  360. 

Boundary,  of  United  States,  1783,  17, 18  ; 
west  of  Mississippi,  1819,  214,  215 ; 
Missouri,  224;  northeast,  335;  north 
west,  355,  357;  Mexican,  365-367,  390, 
391;  Texas,  378,  383,  384;  Utah,  382, 
383;  New  Mexico,  384;  Nebraska, 
403 ;  Kansas,  405. 

Breckinridge,  John,  148. 

British  creditors,  119. 

Buchanan,  James,  defence,  442. 

Bulwer,  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty,  373. 

Burr,  Aaron,  Jefferson's  message  on  the 
conspiracy  of,  165-171. 

Cabinet,  Jackson's  paper  read  to  the,  289- 
295- 

Cadwallader,  General,  and  three  per 
cent,  loan,  271. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  and  bank  of  United 
States,  207 ;  on  nullification,  231 ;  re 
signs  Vice-Presidency,  273  ;  speech  on 
force  bill,  284;  speech  on  removal  of 
deposits,  307 ;  speech  on  Jackson's 
protest,  307 ;  report  on  executive  pat 
ronage,  317 ;  bills  to  regulate  deposits, 


317,  323  ;  surplus  revenue,  323  ;  speech 

on  treaty  of  1842,  335. 
California,    Gulf   of,    rights    of    United 

States,  367,  368,  392,  393. 
California,  bill  to  organize  territory,  378  ; 

constitution,  378. 
Call  for  papers,  Jay  treaty,  114. 
"  Camillus,"  114. 
Campbell,  opinion  in  Dred  Scott  case, 

43°- 

Canada,  admission  to  Confederation,  14 ; 
rebellion  of  1837,  335. 

Capitol,  location  of  national,  47. 

Catron,  opinion  in  Dred  Scott  case,  430. 

Censure  of  Giddings,  333 ;  of  Jackson, 
306;  Jackson's  protest,  306-317;  Poin- 
dexter's  motion  to  reject,  306  ;  Benton  s 
expunging  resolutions,  329-333. 

Charleston,  place  of  deposit,  360;  con 
vention,  442. 

Cincinnati,  Franklin  Bank  of,  place  of 
deposit,  289. 

Claiborne,  213. 

Claims  against  Mexico,  payment,  365. 

Clay,  Henry,  speeches  on  bank,  262 
compromise  tariff,  284  ;  resolutions  on 
removal  of  Duane,  306 ;  resolutions  on 
Taney's  statement  of  reasons,  306; 
speeches  on  removal  of  deposits,  307  ; 
speech  on  expunging  resolution,  329 ; 
on  annexation  of  Texas,  343 ;  on  sub- 
treasury  plans,  359 ;  on  Tyler's  bank 
vetoes,  359;  resolutions,  1850,  379-381 ; 
report  of  committee  of  thirteen,  381-383. 

Clayton,  John  M.,  report  against  bank, 
261 ;  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty,  373-377. 

Cohahuila,  343. 

Coinage,  Jackson  on,  327. 

Coit,  resolution  on  naturalization,  138. 

Collector  at  Philadelphia,  Taney's  in 
structions  to,  295,  296. 

Colonization  Society,  Georgia  protest 
against,  237. 

Columbia,  S.C.,  convention,  442. 

Committee  of  thirteen,  report  of,  381-383. 

Compact  theory  of  constitution,  Georgia 
on,  234,  235;  Webster  on,  255  seq.; 
Jackson  on,  278  seq. 

Compromise  of  1820.  See  Missouri 
Compromise. 

Compromise  of  f8fo,  history,  378,  379 ; 
Clay's  resolutions,  379-381;  report  o/ 


INDEX 


459 


the  committee  of  thirteen,  381,  382;  ' 
Utah  act,  382,  383 ;  Texas  and  New 
Mexico  act,  383-385 ;  Fugitive  Slave 
act,  385-389  ;  act  abolishing  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  389,  390 ; 
Douglas  on,  397,  398,  400. 

Compromise,  Crittenden,  438-441. 

Compromise  tariff,  284. 

Confederate  archives,  447. 

Confederate  States  of  America,  Constitu 
tion  of,  446-455. 

Confederation,  Articles  of,  6-15. 

Constitution  of  American  Anti-Slavery 
Society,  304,  305. 

Constitution    of   Confederate     States    of\ 
America,  446-455. 

Constitution,  Lecompton,  432-435. 

Constitution  of  Missouri,  225. 

Constitution  of  the  United  States,  29-46  ; 
ratifications  of  States,  29 ;  "amend 
ments,  42-46  ;  Jefferson  on  construc 
tion  of,  76-81 ;  Hamilton  on  construc 
tion  of,  81  seq.;  Calhoun's  proposed 
amendment,  323  ;  Crittenden  compro 
mise,  438-440 ;  peace  congress,  ^3- 
445 1  proposed  amendment,  1861,  445, 
446. 

Contested  election,  Kansas,  413. 

Contraband  of  war,  denned,  124,  125. 

Contract  between  Girard  Bank  and 
United  States,  298,  299. 

Corporations,  Jefferson  on,  76  seq. ; 
Hamilton  on,  83  seq. 

Corwin,  proposed  constitutional  amend 
ment,  445. 

Crawford,  Wm.  H.,  tenure  of  office  act, 
227 ;  deposits  in  State  banks,  290,  291. 

Credit,  Hamilton's  first  report  on  public, 
46-58  ;  second  report,  6 1-66. 

"Creole,"  case  of  brig,  333;  Giddings 
on,  334. 

Crittenden  compromise,  438-441 ;  in  peace 
congress,  443. 

Cuba,  Ostend  manifesto,  405-412. 

Currency,  bill  to  designate  funds  receiv 
able,  327. 

Curtis,  dissenting  opinion  in  Dred  Scott 
case,  431-435. 

Cutler,  Manasseh,  21. 

Dallas,  plan  for  a  bank,  208 ;  bank  bill, 
261. 


Dana,  envoy  to  France,  135. 

Dane,  Nathan,  and  ordinance  of  1787, 
21. 

Daniel,  opinion  in  Dred  Scott  case,  430. 

Debt,  Hamilton  s  report  on  public,  46-58  ; 
amount  of,  54;  extinguished,  323. 

Declaration  of  causes,  South  Carolina, 
442. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  1-6 ;  signers 
5,6. 

Declaration  of  sentiments,  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society,  304. 

Declaration  of  war,  1812,  191,  192. 

Democratic  clubs,  135. 

Democratic  convention,  1848,  and  squat 
ter  sovereignty,  378. 

Deposits,  under  bank  act,  211 ;  Ver- 
planck's  report,  272;  Folk's  minority 
report,  272;  removal,  289,290;  Folk's 
reports,  300;  Calhoun's  bills  to  regu 
late,  317,  323 ;  Jackson  on  regulation 
of,  in  State  banks,  322;  House  bill  to 
regulate,  323  ;  act  to  regulate,  323-327; 
Jackson  on  the  act,  323.  See  Jackson, 
and  Bank  of  the  United  States  (sec 
ond). 

Dickerson,    Mahlon,    on    appointments 

•     and  removals,  226. 

Dickinson,  John,  and  Articles  of  Con 
federation,  6. 

Distilled  spirits,  duties  on,  63  seq. 

Distribution  of  surplus  revenue.  See 
Revenue. 

District  of  Columbia,  act  abolishing  slave 
trade  in,  389,  390;  Crittenden  com 
promise  on  slavery  in,  439;  peace 
congress  on  slave  trade  in,  444. 

Dixon,  amendment  to  Nebraska  bill,  402. 
Dodge,  Nebraska  bill,  396. 

Douglas,  amendment  to  Nebraska  bill, 
396 ;  report  on  Nebraska  bill,  397-402. 

Dred  Scott  decision,  416-435 ;  Taney's 
opinion,  416-429;  Wayne's  opinion, 
429 ;  Nelson's  opinion,  429 ;  Grier's 
opinion,  430;  Daniel's  opinion,  430; 
Campbell's  opinion,  430;  Catron's 
opinion,  430  ;  McLean's  opinion,  430; 
Curtis's  opinion,  431-435. 
Duane,  refuses  to  remove  deposits,  289  ; 

Clay's  resolution  on,  306. 
Dunn,  motion  for  select  committee  on 
Kansas,  413. 


460 


INDEX 


Duties,  Hamilton  recommends  addi 
tional,  57,  62  seq. ;  report  on  increase 
of,  1792,  98  ;  reduction,  284 ;  how  pay 
able,  363.  See  Tariff. 

East  Florida,  occupied  by  United  States 

213  ;  ceded  by  Spain,  214. 
East  Indies,  trade  with,  121. 
Election,  Kansas  contested,  413  ;  of  1860 

441. 
Emancipation  of  slaves,  report  on,  1790, 

59- 
Embargo  act,  1807,  176, 177  ;  act  of  1806 

176;    ninety  day  act,   184;    Hartford 

Convention  on,  206. 

Emerson,  Dr.,  owner  of  Dred  Scott,  416. 
English,    minority    report    on    Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  396;  English  bill,  435  ; 

on  Crittenden  compromise,  438. 
Erskine,  British  minister,  183  ;  Madison's 

account,  188,  189. 
Excise,  Hamilton's  report  on,  61-66 ;  in 

Pennsylvania,  131  seq. 
Executive  patronage,  Benton's  report  on, 

227  ;  Calhoun's  report,  317. 
Extradition,  treaty  of  1842,  342. 

Fisheries,  treaty  of  1783,  18,  19. 

Florida,  secedes,  446. 

Floridas ,  treaty  with  Spain  for,  213-219. 

Foot's  resolution,  debate  on,  240-259  ;  Ben- 
ton's  speech  on,  239 ;  Webster' 's  reply 
to  Hayne,  240-249;  Haynes  reply  to 
Webster,  250-254;  Webster's  conclud 
ing  remarks,  255-259. 

Force  bill,  284-289.     See  Tariff. 

France,  Adams's  message  on  negotiations 
with,  135-137 ;  treaty  for  cession  of 
Louisiana,  160-165;  non-intercourse 
with,  198 ;  claim  west  of  Mississippi, 
355  ;  accords  belligerent  rights  to  Con 
federate  States,  446. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  and  Declaration  of 
Independence,  i;  treaty  of  1783,  15; 
slavery  memorials,  58. 

Franklin  Bank  of  Cincinnati,  place  of  de- 

.  posit,  289. 

Free  negroes,  excluded  from  Missouri, 
225;  under  Lecompton  constitution, 

437- 
French  bill,  action  of  bank  on,  319. 


Fugitive  slaves,  ordinance  of  1787,  29; 
constitution,  40 ;  Taylor's  amendment, 
222  ;  act  of  1850,  385-389  ;  apprehen 
sion  and  rendition,  385,  387 ;  penalty 
for  assisting,  387,  388 ;  in  Nebraska, 
404 ;  in  Kansas,  405  ;  Lecompton  con 
stitution,  436;  Crittenden  compro 
mise,  440,  441 ;  peace  congress,  444. 

Funding  system,  Hamilton's  report  on,  46- 
58. 

Gadsden  treaty,  390-395. 

Garrison,  Wm.  Lloyd,  304. 

Georgia,  protest  of,  against  tariff  of  1828, 

234-237 ;  secedes,  446. 
Gerry,  envoy  to  France,  135. 
Ghent,  treaty  of,  1814,  192-198. 
Giddings,    resolutions    on    slavery,    333, 

334- 

Giles,  resolution  for  repeal  of  embargo, 
178. 

Girard  Bank,  Taney's  letter  to,  297  ;  con 
tract  between,  and  the  United  States, 
298,  299. 

Gold,  discovery  of,  373. 

Graham,  John,  and  Burr  conspiracy, 
167-170. 

Great  Britain,  treaty  of  1783,  15-21 ; 
treaty  of 1794, 114-130 ;  non-intercourse 
with,  178 ;  on  European  intervention, 
228  ;  treaty  of  1842,  335-343  ;  treaty  of 
1846,  3S5-358  I  treaty  of  1850,  373-377 ; 
accords  belligerent  rights  to  Con 
federate  States,  446. 

Grier,  opinion  in  Dred  Scott  case,  430. 

Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  treaty  of,  365-372 ; 
modifications,  391-393. 

Gulf  of  California,  rights  of  United  States 
111,367,368,  392,  393- 

Habeas  corpus,   attempted  suspension, 

165,  172. 
Hall,  bill  to  organize  territory  of  Platte, 

295. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  first  report  on  pub 
lic  credit,  46-58  ;  second  report  on  pub 
lic  credit,  61-66 ;  report  on  a  national 
bank,  67-76 ;  opinion  on  constitution 
ality  of  a  national  bank,  8 1-98  ;  report 
on  increase  of  duties,  98 ;  report  on 
manufactures,  98-112;  on  neutrality, 
113  ;  on  Jay  treaty,  114. 


INDEX 


461 


Hamilton,  Gov.,  of  South  Carolina,  mes 
sage  on  nullification,  268. 

Harper,  resolutions  on  seditious  writers, 
146. 

Hartford  convention,  report  of,  198-207. 

Hayne,  reply  to  Webster,  250-254 ;  gov 
ernor  of  South  Carolina,  273 ;  procla 
mation,  273. 

"  Helvidius,"  "  Pacificus  "  and,  113. 

Henry  documents,  184. 

Hillhouse,  resolution  concerning  aliens, 
141. 

Holy  Alliance,  228. 

"  Horatius,"  114. 

Howard,  select   committee  on  Kansas, 

4i3- 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  357. 

Impeachment,  Jackson  on,  311-313. 
Implied   powers,  Jrfferson  on,  76  seq.; 

Hamilton  on,  81  seq. 
Importation  of  slaves,  act  to  prohibit,  171- 

176. 
Impressment,  report  on,  176;    Madison 

on,  184  seq. 
Independence,  Declaration  of,  1-16  ;  Lee's 

resolution,  i. 
Independent  treasury  act,  1846,  358-365  ; 

act  of  1840,  358. 
Indians,  incited  by  Great  Britain,  189; 

treaty  of  1814,  197. 
Ingersoll,  resolution   for  annexation  of 

Texas,  343. 

Ingham's  "Address,"  238. 
Insurrection  in  Pennsylvania,  Washing 
ton's  message  on  the,  130-135. 
Internal  revenue.     See  Excise. 
Islands,  northern  boundary,  341. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  first  message,  238,  239  ; 
second  message,  259,  260 ;  third  message, 
260,  261 ;  bank  veto,  261-268  ;  fourth 
message,  271-273;  message  on  affairs 
in  South  Carolina,  273 ;  proclamation 
to  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  273- 
283  ;  on  protection,  284 ;  paper  read  to 
the  Cabinet,  289-295  ;  fifth  message,  300- 
303 ;  protest  against  Senate  resolution 
of  censure,  306-317  ;  Senate  resolutions 
on  the  protest,  306,  307 ;  nominations 
of  bank  directors  rejected,  306,  307 ; 
sixth  message,  317-323 ;  on  deposits 


and  deposit  act,  323 ;  on  coinage,  327 ; 
Benton's   expunging  resolutions,   329- 

333- 

Jay  treaty,  114-130. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  drafts  declaration  of 
independence,  i ;  plan  for  government 
of  northwest  territory,  21 ;  on  assump 
tion  of  State  debts,  47  ;  opinion  on  con 
stitutionality  of  a  national  bank,  76-81 ; 
on  proclamation  of  neutrality,  113; 
drafts  Kentucky  resolutions,  148 ; 
message  on  Burr  conspiracy,  165-171 ; 
on  suppression  of  slave-trade,  171 ; 
recommends  embargo,  176. 

Joint  resolution  for  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  343-346. 

Kansas,  boundaries,  405  ;  report  of  House 
committee  on  affairs  in,  413-415  ;  Le- 
compton  constitution,  435-437 ;  bills  to 
admit,  435  ;  Topeka  constitution,  435  ; 
Wyandotte  constitution,  435. 

Kansas-Nebraska  act,  403-405 ;  history, 
395-397  I  Douglas's  report,  397-402  ; 
Dixons  proposed  amendment,  402; 
Sumners  proposed  amendment,  402, 

4°3- 

Kendall,  Amos,  289. 

Kentucky  resolutions  of  1798,  149-155; 
resolutions  of  7799,  158-160;  Burr's 
operations  in,  169. 

Kentucky  and  Virginia  resolutions,  his 
tory,  148. 

Kitchen  Cabinet,  289. 

Lands.    See  Public  Lands. 

Leavitt,  Joshua,  304. 

Lecompton  constitution,  435-437. 

Lee,  R.  H.,  resolution  for  independence, 
i. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  elected,  442 ;  on  con 
stitutional  amendment,  445. 

Livingston,  minister  to  France,  160. 

Lloyd,  sedition  bill,  146. 

Louisiana,  treaty  for  the  cession  of,  160- 
165;  history  to  1803,  160;  secedes,  446. 

Loyalists,  treaty  of  1783,  19,  20. 

Madison,  James,  on  memorial  of  Penn 
sylvania  creditors,  46 ;  on  proclamation 
of  neutrality,  113;  Virginia  resolutions, 
148  ;  report  of  1800, 148  ;  proclamation 


462 


INDEX 


suspending  non-intercourse  act,  183; 
war  message,  183-191 ;  recommends 
embargo,  184 ;  suggests  a  national 
bank,  207  ;  Fioridas,  213. 
Maine,  admission,  220 ;  border  war,  335  ; 
treaty  of  1842,  339 ;  payments  to,  340, 

341- 

Maine  Bank  of  Portland,  place  of  deposit, 
289. 

Manufactures,  Washington  on  promo 
tion  of,  98 ;  Hamilton's  report  on,  98- 
112;  South  Carolina  on  protection  to, 
232,  233 ;  Georgia  on  protection  to, 
236. 

Marshal],  envoy  to  France,  135. 

Maryland,  ratifies  constitutional  amend 
ment  of  1861,  445. 

Massachusetts,    treaty     of     1842,     340, 

341- 

McDuffie,  reports  on  bank,  238,  261. 

McLane,  refuses  to  remove  deposits, 
289. 

McLean,  dissenting  opinion  in  Dred 
Scott  case,  430. 

Mexico,  Folk's  war  message,  346-353 ; 
protest  against  annexation  of  Texas, 
346 ;  act  for  prosecution  of  war  with, 
354-  355:  treaty  of  1848,  365-372; 
boundary,  365-367,  390,  391 ;  treaty  of 
f$53t  39°~395 !  Douglas  on  slavery  in 
ceded  territory,  398-400. 

Militia,  Hartford  convention  on,  206. 

Miller,  Nebraska  bill,  396. 

Miranda  expedition,  216. 

Mississippi,  secedes,  446. 

Mississippi  River,  free  by  treaty  of  1783, 
20 ;  free  by  ordinance  of  1787,  27 ; 
survey,  118. 

Missouri,  enabling  act,  223,  224;  bounda 
ries,  224  ;  constitution,  225  ;  resohition 
for  admission  of,  226. 

Missouri  compromise,  history,  2.10^221;. 
Tallmadge's  amendment,~22T ;  Taylor's 
amendment,  222  ;  Thomas's  amendment, 
222  ;  report  of  conference  committee, 
223 ;  Missouri  enabling  act,  223,  224 ; 
constitution  of  Missouri,  225 ;  resolu 
tion  for  admission  of  Missouri,  226; 
in  Nebraska  bill,  396;  Douglas  on, 
399,  400;  Dixon's  amendment,  402; 
repealed,  404;  Taney  on,  425-428; 
Curtis  on,  434, 435. 


Monroe,  James,  envoy  to  France,  160; 
message  enunciating  the  Monroe  doc 
trine,  228-231. 

Montgomery,  Ala.,  convention,  446. 

Mosquito  Indians,  373. 

Naturalization  act,  138-141. 

Nebraska  Territory,  proposed  by  Wil- 
kins,  395;  Douglas's  bills,  395,  396; 
Richardson's  bills,  395,  396;  Dodge's 
bill,  396;  Miller's  bill,  396;  boundaries, 
403.  See  Kansas-Nebraska  act. 

Nelson,  opinion  in  Dred  Scott  case,  429, 

43°- 

Netherlands,  award  of  king  of,  335. 
Neutrality,  proclamation  of,  112-114. 
New  Brunswick,  treaty  of  1842,  339. 
New  Hampshire,  treaty  of  1842,  335. 
New  Mexico,   Taylor   on    organization, 

378 ;    bill   to   organize   territory,   378 ; 
Texas  and  New  Mexico  act,  383-385 ; 

boundary,  384 ;  slavery  in,  385. 
New  Orleans,  treaty  of  1803,  163 ;  place 

of  deposit,  360. 
New  York  City,  Anti-Slavery  Society  of, 

304 ;  place  of  deposit,  360. 
Nicaragua  canal,  373  seq. 
Non-intercourse  act,  177-183  ;  suspended, 

183 ;  renewed,  183 ;  Hartford  conven 
tion  on,  206. 
Northeast  boundary,  treaty  of  1783,  17 ; 

treaty  of  1814,  194-196;  treaty  of  1842, 

337,  338. 

Northern  boundary,  treaty  of  1783,  17, 
18;  treaty  of  1814,  196;  treaty  of  1842, 

338,  339- 

Northwest  boundary,  treaty  of  1846,  357. 

NortJnvest  ordinance,  21-29. 

Nullification,  Kentucky  resolutions  of 
1799,  159 ;  South  Carolina  ordinance 
of,  268-271 ;  Jackson  on,  275  seq. 

Ohio,  action  of  legislature  on  Burr  con 
spiracy,  169 ;  ratifies  constitutional 
amendment  of  1861,  445. 

Oliver,  select  committee  on  Kansas, 413; 
minority  report,  415. 

Omnibus  bill,  379. 

Orders  in  council,  183,  186,  191. 

Ordinance  of  nullification,  South  Caro* 
Una,  268-271. 

Ordinance  of  1784,  repealed,  29. 


INDEX 


463 


Ordinance  of  ijSj,  21-29. 

Oregon,  claim  to,  355  ;  joint  occupancy, 

355,  356 ;   territorial  government  for, 

356  ;  bills  to  organize,  378. 
Ostend  manifesto,  405-412. 

"  Pacificus"  and  "  Helvidius,"  113. 
Panama,  isthmus,  373  ;  canal,  377. 
Paper  read  to  the  Cabinet,  Jackson  s,  290- 

295- 

Paris,  treaty  of,  1783,  15-21. 
Payments  to  Mexico,  370,  392;  to  Texas, 

384- 

Peace  congress,  proposed  constitutional 
amendment,  443-445. 

Pennsylvania,  memorial  of  public  credi 
tors,  46  ;  Washington  s  message  on  in 
surrection  in,  130-135. 

Philadelphia,  Taney's  instructions  to  the 
collector  at,  295,  296;  place  of  deposit, 
360. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  on  Cuba,  405,  406; 
message  on  Kansas,  413. 

Pinckney,  envoy  to  France,  135. 

Platte,  bill  to  organize  territory  of,  395. 

Poindexter,  motion  to  reject  Jackson's 
protest,  306. 

Polk,  James  K.,  reports  on  bank  and  de 
posits,  272,  300 ;  war  message,  346-353. 

Portland,  Maine  Bank  of,  place  of  de 
posit,  289. 

Portsmouth,  branch  bank  at,  238,  262. 

Portugal,  Monroe  on  affairs  of,  229,  230. 

Potter,  resolutions  against  paper  money 
and  the  bank,  238. 

Privateers,  treaty  of  1794,  127,  128. 

Proclamation  of  neutrality,  112-114. 

Proclamation  to  the  people  of  South  Caro 
lina,  Jackson's,  273-283. 

Protection,  South  Carolina  protest,  232, 
233 ;  Georgia  protest,  236 ;  Jackson 
on,  284.  See  Hamilton's  report  on 
manufactures. 

Protest  of  Jackson  against  Senate  resolu 
tion  of  censure,  306-317  ;  Senate  reso 
lutions  on,  306,  307  ;  of  South  Carolina 
against  tariff  of  1828,  231-234;  of 
Georgia  against  tariff  of  1828,  234- 

237- 

Public  credit,  Hamilton's  first  report  on, 
46-58 ;  Hamilton's  second  report  on, 
61-66. 


Public  lands,  Foot's  resolution,  239 ; 
sales,  327 ;  Benton's  motion  on  pay 
ments  for,  327  ;  specie  circular,  328, 329. 

Public  money,  report  on,  317 ;  transfer 
act,  323  ;  care  of,  1841-46,  358. 

Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Co.,  358. 

Randolph,  Edmund,  on  national  bank, 
76 ;  drafts  proclamation  of  neutrality, 

US- 

Randolph,  John,  resolution  on  Burr  con 
spiracy,  165. 

Reeder,  Andrew  H.,  delegate  from  Kan 
sas  territory,  413-415. 

Removal  of  deposits,  history,  289,  290; 
Jackson's  paper  read  to  the  Cabinet, 
290-295 ;  Taney's  instructions  to  the 
collector  at  Philadelphia,  295,  296; 
Taney's  letter  to  the  Girard  Bank,  297; 
Taney's  letter  to  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  298 ;  contract  with  the  Girard 
Bank,  298,  299 ;  Taney's  report  on,  300 ; 
Jackson's  message,  300-303 ;  Web 
ster's  report  on,  306. 

Report  of  the  conference  committee  (Mis 
souri  compromise),  223. 

Report  of  house  committee  on  affairs  in 
Kansas,  413-415. 

Reprisals,  treaty  of  1794,  126. 

Revenue,  surplus,  Calhoun  on,  323  ;  pay 
ments,  323 ;  provision  for  distribution, 
326,  327. 

Richardson,  Nebraska  bill,  395;  Ne 
braska-Kansas  bill,  396. 

Russia,  offer  of  mediation,  192 ;  on  Pa 
cific  coast,  228,  229,  355. 

Sandford,  Dred  Scott  case,  416. 

Secession,  theory  of,  278  seq. 

Sedition  act,  146-148 ;  Harper's  resolu 
tions,  146 ;  Kentucky  resolutions  on, 
149  seq. 

Senate  resolution  of  censure,  Jackson's 
*  protest  against,  306-317. 

Sherman,  John,  select  committee  on 
Kansas,  413. 

•Sherman,  Roger,  and  Declaration  of  In 
dependence,  i. 

Slavery,  forbidden  in  northwest  territory, 
28 ;  constitutional  provisions,  31,  44- 
46 ;  report  on  slavery  memorials,  58- 
60  ;  congressional  non-interference 


464 


INDEX 


with,  in  States,  59  ;  Tallmadge's  propo 
sition,  221  ;  Thomas's  proposition, 
222 ;  in  Missouri,  224,  225 ;  Georgia 
on  non-interference,  236,  237 ;  Gid- 
dingss  resolutions  on,  333,  334;  in 
States  formed  from  Texas,  345 ;  in 
Oregon  bill,  356;  supreme  court,  378  ; 
squatter  sovereignty,  378 ;  in  New 
Mexico,  380,  385  ;  in  Utah,  383  ;  Fugi 
tive  Slave  act,  385-389  ;  in  Nebraska, 
395  !  Crittenden  compromise,  438-441 ; 
peace  congress,  443  ;  proposed  constitu 
tional  amendment,  445,  446. 

Slaves,  emancipation  of,  1790,  59  ;  treaty 
of  1783,  114;  act  to  prohibit  importa 
tion  of,  171-176 ;  Taney  on,  426-428  ; 
Lecompton  constitution,  436. 

Slave  Trade,  constitutional  provisions, 
35,  41;  in  1790,  59;  treaty  of  1814, 
197  ;  Missouri  constitution,  225  ;  Gid- 
dings  on,  334 ;  dispute  regarding  sup 
pression,  335;  African  squadron,  341, 
342 ;  act  abolishing',  in  District  of 
Columbia,  389,  390;  Crittenden  com 
promise,  441 ;  peace  congress,  444. 

Slidell,  commissioner  to  Mexico,  347 
seq. 

Smith,  report  on  currency,  238. 

South  American  colonies,  Monroe  on, 
229,  230. 

South  Carolina,  protest  against  tariff  of 
1828,  231-234  ;  "Exposition,"  231;  elec 
tion  of  1832,  268  ;  Gov.  Hamilton's  mes 
sage  on  nullification,  268 ;  ordinance 
of  nullification,  268-271 ;  convention 
of  1832,  268,  273;  Jackson's  message 
on  affairs  in,  273;  Jackson's  proclama 
tion  to  the  people  of,  273-283  ;  Hayne's 
counter  proclamation,  273  ;  ordinance 
of  nullification  repealed,  284  ;  ordi 
nance  of  secession,  441,  442;  declara 
tion  of  causes,  442;  secedes,  446.  See 
Nullification. 

Spain,  treaty  of  1802,  213 ;   treaty  with," 
for    Floridas,    213-219  ;    Monroe    on 
affairs  of,  229,  230;  claims  on  Pacific 
coast,  355  ;  Cuba,  405.     See  Monroe  ; 
Ostend  manifesto. 

Spanish-American  colonies,  indepen 
dence,  228. 

Specie  circular,  327-329  ;  resolution 
against,  327. 


Specie  payments  by  Bank  of  United 
States,  211. 

Squatter  sovereignty,  378;  in  Nebraska 
bill,  396. 

State  banks,  power  of  Bank  of  United 
States  over,  293 ;  Folk's  report  on  de 
posits  in,  300;  Jackson  on  deposits  in, 
322. 

State  debts,  Hamilton  on  assumption, 
S2,  53- 

State  rights,  Georgia  on,  236;  Webster 
on,  240  seq. ;  Hayne  on,  Z^Q  seq.  See 
Nullification. 

States,  Hartford  convention  on  admis 
sion,  206;  slavery  in  those  formed 
from  Texas,  345. 

St.  Louis,  place  of  deposit,  360. 

Sub-treasury  plan.  See  Independent 
treasury  act. 

Sunmer,  amendment  to  Nebraska  bill, 
402-403. 

Supreme  court  and  slavery,  373. 

Surplus  revenue,  distribution,  326,  327. 
See  Revenue. 

Tallmadge,  amendment  to  Missouri  bill, 
221. 

Taney,  Robert  B.,  orders  removal  of  de 
posits,  289;  drafts  paper  read  to  the 
Cabinet,  289  ;  instructions  to  the  collec 
tor  at  Philadelphia,  295,  296;  letter  to 
Girard  Bank,  297 ;  letter  to  Bank  of 
United  States,  298  ;  report  on  removal 
of  deposits,  300,  306  ;  Clay's  resolution 
on  Taney's  report,  306;  nomination 
of,  rejected,  307 ;  opinion  of  the  court 
in  Dred  Scott  case,  416-429. 

Tappan,  Arthur,  304. 

Tariff,  protest  of  South  Carolina  against, 
1828,  231-234 ;  protest  of  Georgia 
against,  1828,  234-237  ;  of  1832,  268  ; 
Verplanck's  bill  to  reduce,  284  ;  act  for 
enforcing  the,  284-289 ;  Clay's  com 
promise,  284.  See  Duties. 

Taylor,  amendment  to  Missouri  bill,  222. 

Taylor,  John,  Virginia  resolutions,  148. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  in  Mexico,  351 ;  recom 
mends  admission  of  California,  378 ; 
against  organization  of  New  Mexico, 
378. 

Tehuantepec,  373,  377,  390 ;  railway,  394. 

Tenure  of  office  act,  226,  227. 


INDEX 


465 


Territories  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  act 

to  organize,  403-405. 
Territory,  peace  congress  on  acquisition 

°f.  443.  444- 

Texas,  joint  resolution  for  annexation  of, 
343-346  ;  admission  as  State,  344 ;  pro 
test  of  Mexico,  346 ;  bill  to  adjust 
boundary,  378  ;  Texas  and  New  Mexico 
act,  383-385  ;  boundary,  383,  384;  pay 
ment  to,  384 ;  secedes,  446. 

Thomas,  amendment  to  Missouri  bill,  222. 

Three  per  cent,  stock,  271-273. 

Toland,  report  on  bank,  272. 

Topeka  constitution,  435. 

Treasury  act,  independent,  1846,  358-365  ; 
act  of  1840,  358. 

Treasury  of  United  States,  established, 

359- 

Treasury  notes,  363. 

Treaty  of  Paris,  1783,  15-21 ;  with  Great 
Britain,  1794,  114-130;  -with  France, 
1803,  160-165 ;  with  Great  Britain, 
1814,  192-198 ;  with  Spain,  1819,  213- 
219;  with  Great  Britain,  1842,  335- 
343;  with  Great  j5r/Yaz'«,  1846,355-358  ; 
with  Mexico,  1848,  365-372;  with 
Great  Britain,  1850,  373-377;  with 
Mexico,  1853,  390-395. 

Trist,  envoy  to  Mexico,  365. 

Troops,  use  in  Kansas,  414. 

Tyler,  John,  report  on  bank  directors, 
307 ;  report  on  bank,  317 ;  bank  ve 
toes,  358,  359 ;  president  of  peace  con 
gress,  443. 

Utah  act,  382,  383. 

Van  Buren,  on  annexation  of  Texas,  343. 

Verplanck,  report  on  deposits,  272 ;  bill 
to  reduce  tariff,  284. 

Veto,  Jackson's  bank,  261-268. 

Virginia,  deed  of  cession,  21 ;  resolu 
tions  ofrjgS,  155-157 ;  peace  congress, 
443- 

Virginia  and  Kentucky  resolutions,  his 
tory,  148. 

Volunteers,  call  authorized,  354. 


War,  declaration  of,  1812,  191,  192; 
act  for  prosecution  of  Mexican,  354, 

355- 
War  message,  Madison's,  183-191 ;  Folk's, 

346-353- 

Washington,  George,  president  constitu 
tional  convention,  29  ;  first  bank  of  the. 
United  States,  76 ;  on  promotion  of 
manufactures,  98 ;  proclamation  of 
neutrality,  112-114;  JaY  treaty,  114; 
message  on  insurrection  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  130-135  ;  on  Democratic  clubs, 

135- 

Wayne,  opinion    in    Dred    Scott   case, 

429. 

Webster,  Daniel,  reply  to  Hayne,  240-249; 
concluding  remarks,  255-259 ;  speeches 
on  bank,  262;  speech  on  force  bill, 
284 ;  bill  to  recharter  bank,  306 ;  report 
on  removal  of  deposits,  306;  speeches 
on  bank  charter,  307 ;  speech  on 
deposit  banks,  327 ;  speech  on  Ben- 
ton's  motion,  327 ;  speech  on  specie 
circular,  327;  "Creole"  affair,  333; 
speech  on  treaty  of  1842,  335 ;  speech 
on  independent  treasury  act,  359. 

West  Florida,  taken  by  United  States, 
213  ;  ceded  by  Spain,  214. 

Whigs,  election  of  1840,  358. 
Whiskey  insurrection,  Washington's  mes 
sage  on,  130-135. 

Whitfield,  J.  W.,  delegate  from  Kansas 
territory,  413-415. 

Whittier,  J.  G.,  304. 

Wilkins,  proposed  Nebraska  territory, 
395- 

Wilkinson,  and  Burr  conspiracy,  165  ;  in 
structions,  167. 

Wilmot  proviso,  378. 

Woollens  bill,  231. 

Wright,  Elizur,  304. 

X  YZ  mission,  Adams's  message  on,  135- 
137. 

Yancey,  squatter  sovereignty,  378. 


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